November 6, 2023

Professor Johnathan Fisher

Instructor, San Juan College
4601 College BLVD
Farmington, NM 87402

Greetings Professor Fisher:

I am pleased to present to you my report, Waterless; A look inside Navajo Nation’s Water Crisis
as assigned October 5, 2023. I have chosen to present this data report assignment regarding the
insufficient water infrastructure on the Navajo Indian Reservation.
In this report you will see three figures that will touch briefly on the daily living conditions of the
Navajo Nation members living on reservations without access to clean running water. Figure 1.
will show you the topography of the homes without running water on the Navajo Reservation
map, Figure 2. will explain the Navajo’s improvising the barrier of living with less water and
mentions a document that may have direct link to the water crisis, Figure 3. will provide a
permanent solution to this decades-old issue that plagues the Navajo Nation.
This is an in-depth and comprehensive report on a sensitive subject that is intended to bring into
light the dire situation the Navajo people endure daily. However, this report does not cover
detailed dialogue of documents published by U.S. Government and Tribal agencies which are
found in parts of the figure analysis. Further investigations of these said documents can found in
the reference section of this report. The reader may pursue these documents at their discretion.
I hope this report is satisfactory and meets the requirements for this “Data Report” assignment.
Sincerely,

Fabian Nargo

i
 Waterless
A look inside Navajo Nation’s
Water Crisis

By Fabian Nargo
San Juan College
11/06/2023

Waterless
ii
 A look inside Navajo Nation’s
Water Crisis

Submit to
Professor Johnathan Fisher
Fall term 2023 G-Professional technical communication
ENGL-2210

10/05/2023

By Fabian Nargo

This report is meant to educate readers on the importance of having water in abundance and
compare it to other areas around the country where there is less water. One way to visualize this
is to look inside the lives of one of Americas largest tribe, the Navajo Nation. This report is
designed to show three things consecutively: 1) a map that shows homes without running water
within the boundaries of the reservation, 2) followed by a graph that shows the tribes who have
improvised temporary solution to get water, and introduce a possible barrier to water shortage, 3)
and closes with a map of proposed solution to the homes without water crisis.

Table of Contents

iii
TITLE AND
ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………
.. iii

LIST OF
FIGURES……………………………………………………….................................
. v
LIST OF
ACRONYMS………………………………………………………………………
…….. vi

1.0
INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………
………….. 1

2.0 HOMES WITHOUT RUNNING WATER………..

…………………………………. 2
2.1 Summary……………………………………………………………..
……………….… 3
2.2
Interpretation………………………………………………………………………
…. 3
3.0 BARRIERS AFFECTING INFRASTRUCTURE………………………….
………… 4
3.1
Summary………………………………………………………………………….
…….. 5
3.2
Interpretation………………………………………………………………………
…. 5
4.0 PROPOSED WATER
INFRASTRUCTURE………………………………………… 6

iv
 4.1
Summary…………………………………………………………………….
………….. 6
4.2
Interpretation………………………………………………………………………
…. 7

5.0
CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………
…..…..…… 8
REFERENCES…………………………………………………………….
…………...…………….. 9

List of Figures

Figure 1. Homes without running water map………………………………..

2
Figure 2. Barriers affecting infrastructure…….
………………………………. 4
Figure 3. Proposed water Infrastructure map………………………………..
6

v
 List of Acronyms
CDC…………………………………………………………Centers for
Disease Control
EPA…………………………………………………Environmental
Protection Agency
IHS……………………………………………………………………Indian
Health Services
NTUA……………………………………………………Navajo Tribal
Utility Authority

vi
 PWS………………………………………………………………….Public
Water Services
DWR…………………………………………………Department of Water
Resources
GIS……………………………………………………..Geographic
Information System

vii
1.0 Introduction

1.1 Purpose of the Report

The information in this report is a research effort to communicate the water crisis plaguing the
Navajo people of Arizona, New Mexico, and southern Utah. This report will mention at least one
problem affecting the water crisis and bring to light one solution that relates to this problem. In
section 2.0, The data collected by the various sources for the Navajo Nation created a map of
some known locations that are affected by the water crisis. Section 3.0 is a graph that was
created by various sources to illuminate a temporary solution employed by residents of the
Navajo Nation. Section 3.2 mentions one possibility of the water crisis emergence that had
affected the people which implored them to seek a temporary solution. Section 4.0 is an updated
map whose data is also derived from various investigating sources and depicts a permanent
solution to the water crisis problem that has afflicted the Navajo people within the last one-
hundred years.

1.2 Background of the Report

Most if not all Americans had some vague ideas about the struggles that the Navajo people of the
Southwest endured. One of those struggles was unveiled when the Covid-19 outbreak had ensued
on the Navajo Reservation. The same pandemic gave birth to the phrase, “Water is Life.” This
had become a universal slogan that reinvigorates one of the three basic elements that sustains
life, Water.

1.3 Scope of the Report

Water infrastructure is an ongoing paramount issue no matter the demographic difference. The
projects in which the Navajo people invest requires vast amounts of funds and a plethora of
professionals to harness water infrastructures into a feasible goal is an incredible feat and should
not go unrecognized. Water is essential, and everyone should have it. The tragic event that
surrounds the Covid-19 pandemic should be a wake-up call that invites everyone to reflect on
their own water use.

1
2.0 Navajo Homes without running water

This first figure is a map of homes without running water on the Navajo Reservation (EPA,
2010). This mapping and purpose are provided by the Environmental Protection Agency in
collaboration with the Navajo Access Workgroup whose purpose states, “The goal of this project
was to map the locations of Navajo Nation homes without access to safe drinking water and/or
basic sanitation… (EPA, 2010, p. ES-1).

Figure 1: Homes without water map provided by Environmental Protection Agency (2010, p. 31).
(disclaimer) this map is intended for viewing purposes only and not to used for accurate data
representation.

2.1 Summary
The data and locations on this unique map were designed by a GIS mapping system. GIS, a
Geographic Information System is a system that creates, manages, analyzes, and maps all types
of data. This data which had previously been collected via Indian Health Services, CDC, NTUA,
PWS, DWR, and many other sources, is imported into a GIS system to assist the Navajo Access

2
Workgroup to plan the workforce required to install water infrastructure for the Navajo people.
The red dots that are scattered across the Reservation map indicate areas where the Navajo
people live without running water. This map also provides locations of sampled wells that are
deemed safe for human consumption according to EPA and CDC standards.

2.2 Interpretation
In 2010, this map identified Navajo people living in these areas that are shown by the red dots as
those living without access to clean water or running water at all. This map was aided by the
Indian Health Services database for the purposes of devising and strategizing a plan for water
infrastructure. Water infrastructure refers to the network of structures (e.g., pumps, pipes) and
facilities (e.g., treatment plants, storage facilities) required to deliver water services (Water and
Tribes, 2021, p. 14).
The importance of mapping these remote locations is an important investment and a guideline for
future water infrastructure and development that the Navajo people hope to attain. Mapping is
crucial because of safety concerns for all who live on the Navajo Reservation, and most
importantly, First Responders need to know these locations. However, this map does not show
how difficult these roads may be on reservation land. Because of lack of clean water or water at
all, the Navajo people often travel up to thirty miles to get to a water well that is safe for human
consumption. Most of these safe wells are located at chapter houses and at times, there is always
a line that requests two hours of wait time. Now that the water storage tanks are full, the travel
home is a different journey because of the weight of the now acquired water. The desert terrain
will consist of rock-strewn, washed-out, uneven roads plagued with washboards that often
require four-wheel-drive vehicles. Despite this terrain and its obstacles, the Navajo people
persist. The time and money spent on these trips daily or weekly seems outlandish, and
unaccounted for by most people. Traveling 30 miles to get water becomes essential. While most
Americans enjoy life with running water, some 30-40 percent of residents on the reservation
spend much of their time hauling water for themselves and for others who cannot afford the
luxury of a pickup truck.

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3.0 Barriers Affecting Water Infrastructure
This second figure comes from the Water and Tribes Initiative Colorado Basin report titled,
“Universal Access to Clean Water for Tribes in the Colorado River Basin” (2021). A section of
their report titled “Barriers to Providing Access to Clean Water for Tribes” claims, “Navajo
residents are 67 times more likely than other Americans to live without access to running water.
As a result, many households are required to haul water from communal wells—a costly and
time-consuming burden…” (Water and Tribes, 2021, p. 2).

Figure 2. provided by the Universal Access to Clean Water for Tribes in the Colorado River Basin (2021).

3.2 Summary
This figure is included in a publication written by Jason Plautz for “Water Education Colorado”
(2022) who used this data finding to give the reader a visual comparison of Native tribes
surrounding the Four Corners who are living without basic running water. This graph depicts the
Native American tribes lacking water infrastructure who must resort to hauling water for basic
household needs. As seen here, the Navajo and Hopi nations are part of those percentages who
haul water. Non-coincidently, these juxtaposed nations’ percentages are similar or equal.
Although this figure includes other tribes in their data graph, the focus will be on data related to

4
the Navajo Nation. (disclaimer; accurate data that depicts actual numbers of the people who haul
water is undetermined, this graph will suffice only as an overview of the Navajo Nation water
crisis).

3.3 Interpretation
The Navajo people must haul water for myriad reasons. Some reasons include mismanagement
or idling of funds appropriated for Navajo nation infrastructure, construction worker shortage,
household poverty, homes isolated and rural residency. Unknown to some, a major contributor
that left Navajo homes without access to clean running water was the Bennett Freeze. The water
hauling years of the Navajo people may have been a direct result of a development ban created in
1966 because of a disagreement between the Navajo and Hopi nations. The disagreement was
due in part because the Hopi people believed the Navajo were on their land and should leave;
that result was the Bennett Freeze. According to a website article titled “Navajo Thaw;
Implementation Plan” (2019), they explain the Bennett Freeze stating, “… that in the “frozen”
area, no development at all could occur. This included fixing roofs, building houses, constructing
gas and water lines, and repairing roads”. This was a hard compromise between the Navajo and
Hopi people which led to both tribes having to improvise their way of living. However, the
Bennett Freeze was lifted in 2009 by President Obama. The forty-year freeze on development
cannot restore the economical balance the Navajo Nation enjoyed with a snap-of-a-finger, but in
time the Navajo people may see some changes (About the Bennett Freeze, 2019).

5
4.0 Proposed water infrastructure
This last figure is a map that displays the proposed water projects and is included in an article
written by Ian James, an environmental reporter and writer for the Arizona Republic, whose
work involves climate change, water, and environment in Arizona. James interviewed Rex
Kontz, deputy general manager of NTUA, Kontz declared, “It's just a matter of moving the
water and then creating distribution systems to connect people,” Kontz said. “It is a plan that
can be realized” (James, 2020).

Figure 2. This map, provided by the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority, shows areas on the Navajo Nation
where homes don’t have water (black dots), existing water systems (blue lines) and proposed water
pipelines (red lines).

4.1 Summary
This map of water is a proposal to be used as a visual to explain what the Navajo Tribal Utility
Authority (NTUA) and other departments within the tribal government are accomplishing with
the help of funding appropriated by the Federal Government. The red lines are the proposed
water lines, while the blue represent existing NTUA water lines, and the scattered black dots are
homes without running water. This is just one mainstream solution of the Navajo nation
government to counter the years of its people living without clean water.

6
4.2 Interpretation
Upon closer examination of this map, one can see the origins of water distribution. This flow of
water distribution begins with a body of water located in the upper left-hand corner of the map
i.e., Lake Powell. This water line will travel south into commercial and residential areas of Tuba
City, Arizona. The other main source of this water distribution is the San Juan River located near
the town of Shiprock, New Mexico, which will transport its waters south into Gallup, New
Mexico, and the surrounding areas. Once water is dispersed from the origins, developing towns
like that of Tuba City and Shiprock can store and further disperse the water into the
communities. Kontz calls this, “global water plan” (James, 2020). This will allow NTUA to
eventually extend even further than before. This is the dream of the NTUA group and many more
who invest in these projects to help the people.

7
 Conclusion 5.0
Could this proposal for water infrastructure be the permanent solution to the water shortage on
the reservation? I sure hope so. Hauling water for human consumption is not safe and people
should not have to do this for survival. Water is essential to the basics of life alongside food,
shelter, clothing, and air quality. Until less talk and more work is done to pursue what is
important, the Navajo people continue to transport unsafe water from undesignated areas
throughout the reservation, just to maintain their households which may include animals and
livestock. Survival should not be mandatory in a society that purports opportunities.
Nevertheless, voices of the Navajo people echo from the canyon’s walls and into Government
offices of their leaders, hoping their voices might be heard that invites protecting water to
support culture, a way of life. Water is a right and everyone should have it, but not at the expense
of consuming unsafe water. “Safe water, is life”

References
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About the Bennett Freeze. (2019). Navajo Thaw. Native Builders LLC. Retrieved November 3,
2023, from https://navajothaw.com/about-the-bennett-freeze

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). (2010, October). Map of water infrastructure and
homes without access to safe drinking water. Environmental Protection in Indian Country.
https://www.epa.gov/tribal/map-water-infrastructure-and-homes-without-access-safe-
drinking-water-and-basic-sanitation

James, I. (2020, July 22). Waiting for water: on the Navajo nation, long lines, scarce resources, a
cry for solutions. Arizona Republic.
https://www.azcentral.com/in-depth/news/local/arizona-environment/2020/07/22/the-
navajo-nations-wait-for-water-persists-with-few-answers/3224889001/

Plautz, J. (2022). Universal Access. Water Education Colorado.

https://www.watereducationcolorado.org/publications-and-radio/headwaters-magazine/
spring-2022-water-for-the-wests-first-peoples/universal-access/

Water and Tribes Initiative. (2021). Universal access to clean water for tribes in the Colorado
River Basin. https://www.naturalresourcespolicy.org/docs/water-tribes/wti-full-report-
4.21.pdf