Plumbing Africa June 2019 | Page 39

HEALTH AND SANITATION Not only is it difficult to keep qualified workers around the area, the Navajo nation also lacks adequate funding to complete most projects. Water projects on tribal lands that were authorised by Congress have typically been underfunded and go into disrepair due to a lack of technically trained tribal individuals to maintain these systems. Compared to other locations in the United States, the Navajo nation seems to be rather unnoticed on the government’s radar. The non-profits in the area such as Dig Deep have been working in the Navajo nation since 2013, but founder George McGraw says there is much more work to be done and that more government funding is a necessity. To help combat this, the National Congress of American Indians is pushing for a raise in the Clean Water State Revolving Fund and the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund from 1.5% to 3%. Several locations in the United States lack access to an adequate amount of clean water and sanitation, but most, like Flint, Michigan, receive large amounts of media coverage accompanied by aid. Media coverage leads to an increase in public awareness, which in the end can assist in passing bills and increasing government funding to overcome the conflict. In the Navajo Nation, along with nearly all Native American reservations, government funding is set to a minimum. Funding and media coverage in the Navajo nation are low compared to cities like Flint. President of the Navajo nation, Russell Begaye spoke with USNEWS about the nation’s lack of funding compared to Flint. “It indicates to us that we are not a priority. Maybe it is because we don’t have the voting influence that Michigan has. Whatever the factor is, we definitely have been ignored.” In January 2016, President Obama declared a state of emergency in Flint, Michigan, increasing funding and passing a bill along with a USD100-million grant from the EPA. The funding, provided by the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act of 2016, enables Flint to www.plumbingafrica.co.za 37 accelerate and expand its work to replace lead service lines and make other critical infrastructure improvements. Another reason that IWSH’s Community Plumbing Challenge should be held in the Navajo nation is because of the threat of devastating health issues that often shadow the absence of clean water. In the Navajo nation, where there’s normally only a single drinking hole for miles, residents are entirely dependent on that single source for agriculture, livestock and themselves. However, many of these sources have been tainted by nearby uranium mines that were improperly sealed, resulting in run-off contaminating local drinking sources. Despite warnings from the EPA, some Navajo continue to use the contaminated wells because it’s their only water source. This has led to the effects of radiation over-exposure to become evident within the population through a sickness known as Navajo neuropathy, which causes birth defects, muscle weakness and even death in some. The slimming of possible drinking sources on the reservation has pushed many Navajo to use unregulated drinking sources. These are sources that are not checked by the EPA and may contain bacteria from foecal matter, posing a huge threat to public health. Selecting an area within the United States to help may be difficult simply because many locations deserve improvements in plumbing and sanitation. However, the people of the Navajo Nation stand apart from the rest via their under- representation and marginalisation. IWSH’s 2018 Community Plumbing Challenge should focus on an area where about 30% of the population lacks access to clean water within their homes, where two-fifths of the population is below the poverty line, where unregulated drinking sources threaten the population, where funding for improved infrastructure seems obsolete, and where the poor living conditions receive little to no media coverage. The 2018 Community Plumbing Challenge should focus on the Navajo nation. PA June 2019 Volume 25 I Number 4