By Lucy Lewis, WILPF Triangle Branch member, and Linda Low, WILPF US executive director
For many years, the WILPF Triangle (NC) Branch has organized annual World Water Day events. This year’s celebration, held on April 11 at Twin Lakes Park in Durham, NC, was sponsored by WILPF’s Triangle Branch, Triangle Raging Grannies, and the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League (BREDL). The theme, “Where Water Flows, Equity Grows,” set the tone for a powerful gathering.
We were honored to welcome Linda Low, WILPF US executive director, as a featured panelist. She was joined by Jason Torian, a community organizer with BREDL who has led efforts against pipelines and data centers, and Dr. Susie Crate, a climate change researcher who studies its impact on Indigenous communities in Siberia and Canada. The program featured a land acknowledgment, a water blessing, and children’s activities. We are pleased to share Linda’s inspiring presentation below.
Why Water Justice Matters – Linda Low
Every day, we confront a simple truth: water is life—and for millions, it is out of reach. Even here in the Triangle, where most of us can turn on a tap, access to clean water is shaped by infrastructure, policy, and environmental risk. For 111 years, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom US (WILPF US)—and for 91 years, our Triangle Branch—has worked to build peace rooted in justice. Because peace is not just the absence of war—it is the presence of dignity, equity, and access to the resources that sustain life, starting with water.
Many of us have experienced a temporary water outage. Now imagine if the girls and women in your household had to walk hours each day to fetch water. This is reality for millions worldwide. Women and girls bear the disproportionate burden of water scarcity, sacrificing time, education, and economic opportunity simply to meet basic needs.
In humanitarian crises, water is always the first priority. Within the first 24 hours, responders work to restore water and sanitation—because without it, survival is at risk. We know what happens when water systems fail. We also know what happens when they are contaminated.
Here in North Carolina, we have seen how fragile water safety can be. PFAS “forever chemicals”—linked to industrial and military activity—have contaminated drinking water across the Cape Fear River basin, impacting communities from Greensboro to Wilmington. Residents have faced long-term health concerns, uncertainty, and the burden of navigating a system that allowed contamination in the first place. When water is poisoned, the consequences ripple through families, communities, and generations.
Years ago, standing in a deserted village near Fukushima with the Red Cross after the nuclear disaster, I witnessed the long shadow of environmental destruction: contaminated soil stacked in black bags, radiation levels monitored by hand, and entire communities unable to return home. Water, soil, and ecosystems—once sources of life—had become sources of harm. The lesson is clear: when we poison our environment, we poison ourselves.
Today, that reality continues in less visible but equally dangerous ways. WILPF’s Military Poisons program has documented widespread PFAS contamination linked to military exercises. US Department of Defense data shows more than 600 military sites have contaminated surrounding communities. These toxic chemicals are linked to reproductive harm, hormone disruption, and pregnancy complications—disproportionately affecting women.
The water crisis is not only about scarcity or contamination. It is about power.
Who makes decisions about water? Who controls resources? Who bears the burden—and who benefits?
At WILPF, we use feminist peace analysis to understand that water injustice is interconnected with militarism, environmental destruction, and economic inequality. Solutions require more than technical fixes – they require shifting power.
Women’s leadership changes outcomes. Research shows that when women are more equally represented in government, environmental policies are stronger and more effective. Yet major environmental organizations in the US remain overwhelmingly white and male-dominated in leadership. If women—especially those most impacted—were leading water policy and environmental decision-making, how might our systems look different?
We believe the answer is clear.
We need more women—and more gender-expansive people—at decision-making tables, shaping policies that are collaborative, long-term, and grounded in community realities. Because a world where women carry the burden but not the power is not democratic.
Water justice is not just about access. It is a human right. It is foundational to public health, economic stability, and peace. War destroys water infrastructure, contaminates ecosystems, and deepens inequality—while women, often as caregivers, carry the heaviest burden.
This Earth Month, we call for action:
- Protect water.
- Treat it as a human right.
- Center women in decision-making.
- Build systems rooted in care, equity, and shared power.
- Because peace is not possible without water.
- And lasting peace is not possible without women leading the way.
