Page 79 - Mapping the Nation: Taking Climate Action

Expediting Water Relief for the Navajo Nation In April 2020, as the magnitude of the coronavirus pandemic and its impact were becoming readily apparent, Commander Ryan Clapp, a staff engineer with the Indian Health Service (IHS), flew to Albuquerque. Upon arrival, he bought eight pay-as-you-go cell phones from a retail store and loaded data collection apps on them. Within 48 hours, he had a team of Navajo Area IHS technicians spread out using mobile devices to map water access points in the Navajo Nation. The IHS headquarters staff meanwhile developed a comprehensive field survey with help from the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority and completed the background work. "We were building things as we were going, and it was moving very fast," said Captain Ramsey Hawasly, assistant director, Division of Sanitation Facilities Construction at IHS and lead GIS program coordinator. This rapid response was requested by the Navajo Nation president due to the COVID-19 public health emergency. At the time, the Navajo tribe was experiencing the highest incidence of COVID-19 cases in the United States, and the long-standing lack of in-home water access was assumed to be one of the main reasons. The heightened need for handwashing during the pandemic posed a challenge for many homes without water. For many years, the rugged topography and remoteness of the Navajo Nation made piping water to homes challenging. Since 2003, IHS and a network of partners have reduced the number of Navajo homes without water access from 30 percent to 20 percent. Funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act provided the Navajo Area IHS with $5.2 million to increase water access within the Navajo Nation. 78 Drought