[Perspective] Tribal Water Issues Exemplified by the Navajo Nation

By Lindsey Jones and Jani C. Ingram
EHP
December 14, 2022
DOI: 10.1289/EHP12187

More than 40% of the U.S. public water supply comes from groundwater. In the semiarid southwestern United States, where surface water can be scarce and drought conditions make these sources unreliable, groundwater is an important source of drinking water for many people. For example, in northeastern Arizona, groundwater delivers up to 60% of the public water supply. In sparsely populated areas where the cost-to-benefit ratio makes it challenging to develop water infrastructure, unregulated wells and springs are important water sources. However, these sources carry a heavy risk of contamination. Tribal lands are especially affected by the risk of drinking contaminated water, and in many cases testing is absent altogether, as Mok et al. write in this issue of Environmental Health Perspectives. The Navajo Nation is a case in point of the water-related challenges faced by Tribes.

Nearly half of the 300,000 members of the Navajo Tribe live on the Reservation, which spreads over parts of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. The Navajo Nation has one of the world’s largest uranium reserves on its lands. More than 500 abandoned uranium mine claims have created human health and environmental concerns on Navajo lands, and our team reported that many unregulated water sources on the Navajo Nation have elevated levels of arsenic, uranium, manganese, and other elements from former mining operations.

Although mining-related contamination is one of the better-known problems in Navajo water, other drinking water contaminants, such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), are understudied on Tribal lands, as Mok et al. point out. Municipal wells on the Navajo Nation are regulated by the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority ( www.ntua.com). However, the reliance on unregulated water sources on Navajo lands for household use, including drinking water, makes PFAS and other emerging contaminants increasingly important as a potential health risk to the Navajo people, especially because the increase in wildfires, trash burning, and other potential sources of these compounds makes their presence in water sources likely.

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