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Two Cities, One Water Story
Dana 1040
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Monday November 9, 2026
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6:00 pm
Join the UM-SEAS Detroit Sustainability Clinic for a seminar featuring 2026 Fall Faculty Fellow Dr. Berneece Herbert of Jackson State University.
In “Two Cities, One Water Story,” Dr. Herbert will explore the experiences of Jackson, Mississippi, and Detroit, Michigan—two majority-Black cities where control over water systems has increasingly shifted away from local residents. The seminar will examine Jackson’s experience with a federally appointed water manager and Detroit’s transition to the Great Lakes Water Authority, using these cases to consider broader questions of water governance, accountability, and community voice.
Who governs water? Who pays for it? And who gets heard? Through the stories of Jackson and Detroit, the seminar will invite conversation about how decisions over essential public resources are made and whose interests shape those decisions.
The event will begin with 30 minutes of networking and a project showcase, where attendees can learn about the Detroit Sustainability Clinic’s ongoing projects while enjoying light snacks and refreshments. The seminar will follow.