{"id":43095,"date":"2021-12-23T17:33:37","date_gmt":"2021-12-24T00:33:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/tribes-lacking-water-see-glimmer-of-hope-with-massive-bill\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:11:31","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:11:31","slug":"tribes-lacking-water-see-glimmer-of-hope-with-massive-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/tribes-lacking-water-see-glimmer-of-hope-with-massive-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"Tribes lacking water see glimmer of hope with massive bill"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Emergency
Emergency management support workers unload water and COVID-19 supplies on Dec. 6 in Warm Springs, Oregon. In Warm Springs, the water crisis has overlapped with COVID-19.(AP Photo\/Nathan Howard)<\/span>Nathan Howard<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

WARM SPRINGS, Ore. (AP) \u2014 Erland Suppah Jr. doesn\u2019t trust what comes out of his faucet.<\/p>\n

Each week, Suppah and his girlfriend haul a half-dozen large jugs of water from a distribution center run by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs to their apartment for everything from drinking to cooking to brushing their teeth for their family of five. It\u2019s the only way they feel safe after countless boil-water notices and weekslong shutoffs on a reservation struggling with bursting pipes, failing pressure valves and a geriatric water treatment plant.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout the only thing this water is good for is cleaning my floor and flushing down the toilet,\u201d Suppah said of the tap water in the community 100 miles (160 kilometers) southeast of Portland. \u201cThat\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Erland
Erland Suppah Jr., left, and CeCelia LeClaire use donated water to cook lunch in their home on Dec. 7 in Warm Springs, Oregon. (AP Photo\/Nathan Howard)<\/span>Nathan Howard<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In other, more remote tribal communities across the country, running water and indoor plumbing have never been a reality.<\/p>\n

Now, there\u2019s a glimmer of hope in the form of a massive infrastructure bill signed last month that White House officials say represents the largest single infusion of money into Indian Country. It includes $3.5 billion for the federal Indian Health Service, which provides health care to more than 2 million Native Americans and Alaska Natives, plus pots of money through other federal agencies for water projects.<\/p>\n

Tribal leaders say the funding, while welcome, won\u2019t make up for decades of neglect from the U.S. government, which has a responsibility to tribes under treaties and other acts to ensure access to clean water. A list of sanitation deficiencies kept by the Indian Health Service has more than 1,500 projects, including wells, septic systems, water storage tanks and pipelines. Some projects would address water contamination from uranium or arsenic.<\/p>\n

About 3,300 homes in more than 30 rural Alaska communities lack indoor plumbing, according to a 2020 report. On the Navajo Nation, the largest Native American reservation, about one-third of the 175,000 residents are without running water.<\/p>\n

Residents in these places haul water for basic tasks such as washing and cooking, sometimes driving long distances to reach communal water stations. Instead of indoor bathrooms, many use outhouses or lined pails called \u201choney buckets\u201d that they drag outside to empty. Some shower or do laundry at community sites known as \u201cwasheterias,\u201d but the equipment can be unreliable and the fees expensive.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou look at two billionaires competing to fly into outer space, yet we\u2019re trying to get basic necessities in villages of interior Alaska,\u201d said PJ Simon, a former chairman of an Alaska Native nonprofit corporation called the Tanana Chiefs Conference.<\/p>\n

Many more tribal communities have indoor plumbing but woefully inadequate facilities and delivery systems riddled with aging pipes.<\/p>\n

The coronavirus pandemic, which disproportionately hit Indian Country, further underscored the stark disparities in access to running water and sewage systems.<\/p>\n

\"Warm
Warm Springs Economic Development Corporation CEO Jim Souers walks through rows of hydropanels on Dec. 7 in Warm Springs, Oregon. (AP Photo\/Nathan Howard)<\/span>Nathan Howard<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The
The sun sets over the landscape of the Warm Springs Reservation on Dec. 7 near Warm Springs, Oregon. (AP Photo\/Nathan Howard)<\/span>Nathan Howard<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Johnson
Johnson Bill looks toward a failing water treatment plant that provides water to more than 4,000 people in Warm Springs, Oregon. (AP Photo\/Nathan Howard)<\/span>Nathan Howard<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
A highway maintained by the Bureau of Indian Affairs stretches through the Warm Springs reservation on Dec. 7 near Warm Springs, Oregon. (AP Photo\/Nathan Howard)<\/span>Nathan Howard<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In Warm Springs, the water crisis has overlapped with COVID-19.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring a worldwide pandemic, we\u2019ve had a boil-water notice. How are we supposed to wash our hands? How are we supposed to sanitize our homes to disinfect, to keep our community members safe? How can we do that … when our water isn\u2019t even clean?\u201d said Dorothea Thurby, who oversees the distribution of free water to tribal members and food boxes to those who are quarantined.<\/p>\n

A 2019 report by a pair of nonprofit groups, U.S. Water Alliance and Dig Deep, found Native American homes are 19 times more likely than white households to lack full plumbing. And federal officials note tribal members without indoor toilets or running water are at increased risk of respiratory tract, skin and gastrointestinal infections.<\/p>\n

\"Dan
Dan Martinez, emergency manager for the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, pauses in a classroom used to store donated water on Dec. 7 in Warm Springs, Oregon. In Oregon, tribal officials have handed out about 3 million gallons of water \u2013 almost all of it donated \u2014 from a decommissioned elementary school on the reservation. (AP Photo\/Nathan Howard)<\/span>Nathan Howard<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Emergency
Emergency management workers Perseus Bradley, right, and Waymon Harry, store pallets of water and other donated supplies on Dec. 6 in Warm Springs, Oregon. (AP Photo\/Nathan Howard)<\/span>Nathan Howard<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The
The town of Warm Springs is seen here on Dec. 7 in Warm Springs, Ore. (AP Photo\/Nathan Howard)<\/span>Nathan Howard<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Hazen
Hazen Bru, left, and Johnson Bill deliver donated water to residents of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs on Dec. 6 in Warm Springs, Oregon. (AP Photo\/Nathan Howard)<\/span>Nathan Howard<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
A water tower that's part of the failing water system on the Warm Springs Reservation in Warm Springs, Oregon. (AP Photo\/Nathan Howard)<\/span>Nathan Howard<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
A truck hauling an emergency water tanker trailer is dispatched from the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority on May 4. (David Morris\/Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority, via AP, File)<\/span>David Morris<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On the Navajo Nation, Eloise Sullivan uses an outhouse and often drives before dawn to beat the crowd at a water-filling station near the Arizona-Utah border to get water for the five people in her household. They use about 850 gallons (3,200 liters) a week, she estimated.<\/p>\n

Sullivan, 56, doesn\u2019t mind hauling water, but \u201cfor the younger generation, it\u2019s like, \u2018Do we have to do that?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of like a big issue for them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She once asked local officials what it would cost to run a water line from the closest source about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) away. She said she was told $25,000 and never pursued it.<\/p>\n

Libby Washburn, special assistant to President Joe Biden on Native American affairs, recently told tribes the infrastructure bill included enough money to complete all the projects on the Indian Health Service list. The agency said it\u2019s consulting with tribes and won\u2019t make allocation decisions before that process is over.<\/p>\n

Until now, tribes and outside organizations have worked to address needs with their own funding, donations or federal money, including pandemic relief.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you live without running water, you understand the importance and the connection you have with it, deep down as a person, as a human being,\u201d said Burrell Jones, who sets up water systems and delivers water around Dilkon, Arizona, with Dig Deep\u2019s Navajo Water Project. \u201cYou can\u2019t exist without water.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andrew Marks recently moved back to Tanana, a community of about 190 people in Alaska\u2019s interior. He initially relied on a washeteria but found the equipment unreliable. He now has running water and plumbing where he lives but hauls water for family members who don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe if we had more people with water, more people connected to the grid, it would drastically improve their life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In Oregon, tribal officials have handed out about 3 million gallons (11 million liters) of water \u2014 almost all of it donated \u2014 from a decommissioned elementary school on the reservation. A steady stream of residents pick up a combined 600 gallons (2,270 liters) of water a day from the building. Former classrooms overflow with 5-gallon (19-liter) containers and cases of bottled water.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe infrastructure bill brought joy to my heart because now it gives me hope \u2014 hope that it\u2019s going to be repaired,\u201d said Dan Martinez, the tribes\u2019 emergency manager, who expects to receive federal funds to replace underground pipes and address the 40-year-old treatment plant.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you came to work one day and someone said, \u2018Hey, you need to go and find water for a community of 6,000 people.\u2019 … I mean, where do you start?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The money won\u2019t provide immediate relief. Funding to the Indian Health Service is supposed to be distributed over five years. There is no deadline for its use, and projects will take time to complete once started. The money won\u2019t cover operation and maintenance of the systems, a point tribes have criticized.<\/p>\n

In Warm Springs, tribal members don\u2019t pay for their water, and proposals to charge for it are deeply unpopular. That provides little incentive for tribal members to conserve water and raises questions about how new infrastructure will be maintained.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are some Natives who say \u2014 and I believe this myself \u2014 \u2018How do you sell something you never owned? The Creator has given it to us,\u2019\u201d said Martinez, a tribal member.<\/p>\n

Building out infrastructure in remote areas can be onerous, too. Most roads on the Navajo Nation are unpaved and become muddy and deeply rutted after big storms.<\/p>\n

In Alaska, winter temperatures can fall well below zero, and construction seasons are short. Having enough people in a small community who are trained on the specifics of a water system so they can maintain it also can be a challenge, said Kaitlin Mattos, an assistant professor at Fort Lewis College in Colorado who worked on a 2020 report on water infrastructure in Alaska.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery bit of funding that is allocated is going to help some family, some household, which is wonderful,\u201d she said. \u201cWhether it\u2019s enough to help every single household, I think, remains to be seen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fonseca reported from Flagstaff, Arizona. Bohrer reported from Juneau, Alaska.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Emergency management support workers unload water and COVID-19 supplies on Dec. 6 in Warm Springs, Oregon. In Warm Springs, the water crisis has overlapped with COVID-19.(AP Photo\/Nathan Howard)Nathan Howard WARM SPRINGS, Ore. (AP) \u2014 Erland Suppah Jr. doesn\u2019t trust what comes out of his faucet. Each week, Suppah and his girlfriend haul a half-dozen large […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43096,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,138],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-43095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-new-mexico"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43095"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43095\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85572,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43095\/revisions\/85572"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43095"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=43095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}