Expanding Water Access in the Navajo Nation

Photo credit: Unknown, CC BY-ND 2.0

The Navajo Nation retains the largest land area of any indigenous tribe in the United States. Navajo land spans 27,000 square miles—an area larger than West Virginia—and occupies territory in three states: Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico. More than 173,000 of the 298,000 enrolled Navajo members live on Navajo Nation soil.

According to the Indian Health Service (IHS) and the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority, an estimated twenty to thirty percent of the Nation’s residents do not have access to piped water in their homes. Most occupants of homes without piped water rely on hauled water. In some cases, occupants may rely on bottled water for drinking, cooking, cleaning, and bathing.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which has rocked the Navajo Nation with 30,350 cases to date, exacerbated preexisting strains placed on Navajo communities through insufficient and unreliable water access. To combat these deficits, advocates from a variety of sectors—Navajo Nation and federal officials, nonprofits, universities, utility providers—united to form the Navajo Nation COVID-19 Water Access Coordination Group (WACG) which aims to increase tribal homes’ access to safe, quality drinking water.

Last year, in an effort to further WACG's mission, the Indian Health Service and Navajo Engineering & Construction Authority (with the help of Federal CARES Act funds) installed small hydrants connected to piped water throughout the Navajo Nation, creating 58 new transitional water points available to tribal households. This more than doubled the 48 existing water access points in the Navajo Nation. Furthermore, for the duration of the Navajo Nation COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, CARES Act funds enable the WACG to waive water fees and provide water storage containers and disinfection tablets free of charge.

Funding has equipped the WACG to expand water access in the Navajo Nation during the COVID-19 pandemic, but health, human services, and Native justice advocates continue to search for economically feasible infrastructure expansion solutions that will last beyond the current health crisis. As facilities on tribal lands near the end of their life expectancy, more systems need maintenance and replacement, resulting in high estimated construction costs passed on to consumers who may not be able to afford higher utility costs. Rex Kontz, deputy general manager of the Navajo Tribal Utility, says that when it comes to raising utility rates, “all you’ll get is a bunch of people disconnected for nonpayment.”

While there is still an effort to supply homes with piped water, long term solutions to Navajo water inaccessibility may look different from solutions found in many parts of the United States. Navajo officials and utility providers are considering large water loading stations with high flow rates that could serve more residents than the new water access points. WACG members, including the IHS and Johns Hopkins University, are also assessing tech-based solutions like hydropanels and solar powered filters at wellheads.

For more on the Navajo Nation Water Access Coordination Group, click here. To read more about water access points installed in the Navajo Nation, click here.