Native American communities in the U.S. are clamoring for more clean water and sanitation.
From the reservations in the Pacific Northwest to those in Georgia, according to the nonprofit U.S. Water Alliance, over 130,000 of Native American households lack indoor plumbing because of faulty, outdated, or nonexistent pipes or water systems, prompting residents to either use bottled water or boil water to make it safe for drinking, cooking, or cleaning, the Los Angeles Times reported.
U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) has made it his mission to address these discrepancies.
“This is why I am fighting so hard to address the significant backlog of water infrastructure projects in Tribal communities and provide clean water to the overwhelming number of Native American households who currently lack access,” Heinrich tweeted on July 27.
In Navajo Nation, which encompasses portions of northeastern Arizona, southeastern Utah, and northwestern New Mexico, water inaccessibility has taken a toll on the health of its people as diabetes is on the rise.
The L.A. Times reported that soda is more available than water in one of the nation’s biggest reservations.
Earlier this year, Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden filed legislation in hopes of funding clean drinking water and sanitation facilities in tribal communities.
Aside from water woes, thousands of Native Americans are grappling with unsanitary conditions.
A survey conducted by the Indian Health Service, or IHS, determined that approximately 130,000 out of 400,000 Native American homes needed sanitation facility improvements involving water, sewer or solid waste systems at the end of fiscal year 2018, which comes with a price tag of $2.67 billion, the L.A. Times reported.