Transmission and

Distribution

$743.4 million

Storage

$137.4 million

Treatment

$179.3 million

Source

$80.1 million

Other

$11.6 million

American Indian Water Systems

Transmission and

Distribution

$485.0 million

Storage

$309.7 million

Treatment

$228.7 million

Source

$43.1 million

Other

$0.8 million

Alaska Native Village Water Systems

T

he survey estimates that American

Indian and Alaska Native Village

water systems need to invest $2.2

billion in capital improvements over the

next 20 years. Of this total, $2.0 billion is

needed now to ensure the continued

provision of safe drinking water. Exhibit 9

presents the total need by category for

American Indian and Alaska Native

Village systems.

The public health significance of this need

is underscored by considering the perhousehold needs of American Indian and

Alaska Native Village water systems. As

Exhibit 7 shows, these household needs

are the highest in the

nation–averaging $6,500

per-household for American Indians and $51,500

per-household for Alaska

Native Villages. It is to be

expected that American

Indian and Alaska Native

Village systems would

have high per-households

needs because most of

these systems are small,

serving between 25 and

3,300 people. Small

systems lack the economies of scale that

The majority of American Indian

systems, 762 of 781, are small

systems serving between 25 and

3,300 people. The remaining 19

systems are of medium size

serving between 3,300 and 50,000

people. A similar breakdown in

size applies to the Alaska Native

Village systems: 172 systems are

small and 2 systems are of medium

size.

Exhibit 9: Total American Indian and Alaska Native Village Water System Need

by Category of Need

(in millions of January 1999 dollars)

Does not include the costs associated with proposed or recently promulgated SDWA regulations.

FINDINGS: AMERICAN INDIAN AND

ALASKA NATIVE VILLAGE WATER

SYSTEMS

In 1999, EPA conducted a survey to estimate the 20-year capital needs of American Indian

and Alaska Native Village water systems. This section of the report presents the total need for

these systems. The section also describes the need by category and the existing regulatory

need. Appendix B presents the American Indian need by EPA Region.
Page 48 1999 Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey

reduce the per-household

needs of larger systems.1

However, American

Indian and Alaska Native

Village systems have

substantially higher needs

than the small systems in

the State portion of the

survey. For American

Indian systems, the

widely dispersed and

remote location of many

communities and the

limited availability of water

resources are among the

logistical challenges that

account for these high

per-household needs.

Alaska Native Village

water systems face

higher costs due to their

remote arctic locations

and the unique design

and construction standards required in permafrost conditions.

The isolation of many American Indian

communities and Alaska Native Villages

makes it infeasible to obtain water from

neighboring water systems. In less

remote areas, water systems often find

that consolidation with other systems can

reduce or eliminate the needs associated

with treatment and source development.

Also, a group of homes lacking safe

drinking water can connect to a nearby

system without the expense of laying

miles of pipe or creating a new water

system. These options are not available

to remote American Indian communities

and Alaska Native Villages.

The problem of delivering safe water in

these communities is compounded by

their poor economic condition. According

to the 1990 census, approximately 32

percent of American Indians and Alaska

Natives live below the poverty line, compared to the national average of 13

percent. Also, the median household

income of American Indians and Alaska

Natives is just 66 percent of the national

average. These communities, therefore,

often lack the internal financial resources

to invest in water infrastructure.

The Indian Health Service (IHS) estimates

that approximately 20,000 households in

American Indian communities and Alaska

Native Villages lack potable water supplies. Some of these households must

haul their drinking water from community

watering points. In the course of being

transported and stored, sometimes in

unsanitary conditions, hauled water is

vulnerable to microbial contamination. For

example, in arctic areas of Alaska, the

common practice of hauling buckets of

human waste along the same walkways

used for hauling drinking water poses

significant public health risks. Households

without access to a watering point must

obtain their water from alternative supplies, such as untreated surface sources

that are subject to contamination from

waterborne bacteria, viruses, and protozoa.

Irrespective of where these households

obtain their water, a lack of running water

tends to limit hand-washing and bathing.

Consequently, these households face an

increased risk from such communicable

diseases as Hepatitis A, shigellosis, and

Impetigo.

Although the risk of waterborne and

water-related diseases remains an important public health concern, the occurrence

of these diseases has declined in many

American Indian communities and Alaska

Native Villages. The construction of water

systems and waste disposal facilities was

a critical factor in this decrease. The

challenge many American Indian commuWorkers install a section of water main on the

Navajo reservation in Arizona. Many American

Indian systems have disproportionately high

distribution needs relative to their size, because

they serve widely dispersed homes in remote

locations.

1

 For more discussion, see the earlier section, “Economic Challenges of Small Water Systems.”

Indian Health Services
1999 Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey Page 49

nities and Alaska Native

Villages now face is the lack

of financial and technical

resources necessary to

operate and maintain these

new water systems. The

survey found that a disproportionately large number of

these treatment facilities

required replacement rather

than rehabilitation. Without

adequate operation and

maintenance, water systems

will cease to provide safe

drinking water well before the

end of their design life. Thus,

in many American Indian

communities and Alaska

Native Villages, new water systems often

deteriorate to an extent that premature

replacement of the facilities is required.

American Indian Water

System Needs

The total 20-year need for American

Indian systems is $1.2 billion. Of this total,

approximately $1.0 billion is needed now

to provide safe drinking water. Exhibit 10

presents the total need by category for

American Indian systems.

Transmission and distribution projects

account for 65 percent of the total American Indian need, a finding which reflects

the long lengths of main often needed to

transport water from a source to a treatment facility and from the facility to remote

users. The cost of extending service to

each home may be prohibitive in some

communities given the distances involved.

In these circumstances, more affordable

options include drilling private wells to

serve individual homes and constructing

treated water stations from which water

can be hauled and stored under sanitary

conditions.

Treatment represents the second largest

category of need at $179 million. Although

some American Indian systems have

surface water treatment facilities, many

systems are located in dry regions where

ground water is the only available source.

The fact that approximately 93 percent of

American Indian systems rely on ground

water also reflects their small size, since

most small systems in the country use

ground water sources. The treatment

needs of American Indian systems

therefore are typical of ground water

systems–with disinfection being the most

common form of treatment.

Many American Indian systems are

located in arid areas where the aesthetic

quality of the ground water is poor. The

survey estimates that $26 million is

needed for projects to remove secondary

contaminants that impart an unpleasant

taste, odor, or color to the water.

Of the remaining categories of need, $137

million is needed to install or rehabilitate

water storage tanks. Another $80 million

is needed to develop and maintain adequate sources of water–a significant

challenge for many American Indian

systems due to the scarcity of water

resources. Representing $12 million in

Exhibit 10: Total 20-Year Need by Category for

American Indian Water Systems

(in millions of January 1999 dollars)

Categories of Need Current

Need

Future

Need Total Need

Distribution and

Transmission $691.6 $51.8 $743.4

Treatment $157.2 $22.1 $179.3

Storage $106.3 $31.1 $137.4

Source $64.9 $15.2 $80.1

Other $11.6 $0 $11.6

Total Need $1,031.5 $120.3 $1,151.8

Does not include the costs associated with proposed SDWA regulations.

Note: Numbers may not total due to rounding.
Page 50 1999 Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey

needs, the “other” category comprises the

remaining 1 percent of the total need. This

category includes projects for installing

emergency power generators and upgrading facilities to protect against floods

and earthquakes.

Regulatory Need for American Indian

Systems. Infrastructure needed for

compliance with existing SDWA regulations comprise 5 percent, or $57 million,

of the total 20-year American Indian need.

The regulatory need category includes

projects which are necessary to attain or

maintain compliance with a maximum

contaminant level (MCL) or treatment

technique requirement. Approximately 98

percent of these projects involve the

upgrade, replacement, or installation of

treatment technologies required for

compliance with the Surface Water

Treatment Rule. Less than 2 percent of

the regulatory need is for compliance with

the Total Coliform Rule. The remainder is

for compliance with the Lead and Copper

Rule.

Alaska Native Village Water

System Needs

The total 20-year need for Alaska Native

Village systems is $1.1 billion. Of this

total, approximately $1.0 billion is needed

now to ensure the continued provision of

safe drinking water. Exhibit 11 shows the

total Alaska Native Village need by

category. The Alaska Native Village need

contributes a disproportionately large

share to the total national need on a perhousehold basis.

The main reason for this high per-household need is that Alaska Native Village

systems must contend with significantly

higher transportation and construction

costs. For communities located on the

coast or near navigable rivers, equipment

often must be transported by barge during

the summer months. In the absence of

navigable waterways or roads, communities must rely on helicopters or airplanes

to transport equipment.

Another factor contributing to the high perhousehold need is the unique construction

standards required to accommodate arctic

conditions. For example, storage tanks,

treatment facilities, and other water

system components must be placed on

large gravel beds or support structures,

called pilings, to prevent the transfer of

heat from a water system component to

the permafrost. Without these measures,

the underlying permafrost would subside

and destabilize the component.

Transmission and distribution projects

comprise the largest category of need,

representing $485 million, or 45 percent of

the total need. Alaska Native Village water

systems usually require only a modest

amount of pipe to provide service to each

residence, given the close proximity of the

homes to each other. However, the

transmission and distribution of water in

many Alaska Native communities requires

A storage tank under construction in White Mountain, Alaska, is encased in

insulation to prevent water in the system from freezing. Constructing water

systems to withstand extreme weather conditions is one reason Alaska Native

Village systems have high per-household needs.

Indian Health Service
1999 Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey Page 51

Exhibit 11: Total 20-Year Need by Category for

Alaska Native Village Water Systems

the use of supplemental (in millions of Jan. ‘99 dollars)

infrastructure that is not

needed in more temperate

climates. In arctic areas,

distribution networks consist

of insulated, above-ground

mains, known as utilidors. To

prevent water in the system

from freezing, the water in

these mains is heated and

the distribution network is

looped to provide continuous

circulation of water throughout the entire system–from

the treatment plant and

storage tank, to the homes

and back to the plant.

With $310 million needed over the next 20

years, water storage projects represent

the second largest category of need.

Storage facilities in arctic systems require

heavy insulation and the continuous

circulation and heating of water to prevent

freezing. In addition, the formation of ice

renders many surface water sources

inaccessible for most of the year. Consequently, many surface water systems

must treat and store an entire year’s

supply of water within 8 to 12 weeks

during the summer. These systems

require treatment plant and storage

capacities that greatly exceed what would

normally be necessary for similarly sized

systems in the lower 48 States.

Treatment comprises 21 percent of the

need for a cost of $229 million. Although

ground water systems are not subject to

the seasonal limitations which require the

over-sizing of facilities, the quality of the

water often is poor. High levels of iron and

manganese require these systems to

install expensive treatment facilities to

improve the taste and color of the water.

The total 20-year need for source projects

is $43 million. Most of these projects are

for drilling or rehabilitating wells. Alaska

Categories of Need Current

Need

Future

Need Total Need

Distribution and

Transmission $481.8 $3.2 $485.0

Treatment $212.0 $16.8 $228.7

Storage $292.5 $17.1 $309.7

Source $34.6 $8.5 $43.1

Other $0.8 $0 $0.8

Total Need $1,021.7 $45.5 $1,067.2

Native Village systems also included

projects to install or upgrade surface

water intake structures.

Regulatory Need for Alaska Native

Village Systems. For Alaska Native

Village systems, all of the projects directly

attributable to the existing SDWA are for

compliance with the Surface Water

Treatment Rule (SWTR). These projects

total $108 million, or 47 percent, of the

entire Alaska Native Village need for

treatment.

Total American Indian and Alaska

Native Village Needs Compared to the

1995 Results. The total need for American Indian systems and Alaska Native

Village systems increased by $533.8

million and $216.2 million, respectively,

compared to the 1995 findings. This

increase results largely from refining the

methods used to estimate the needs. For

the American Indian survey, the sample

size was increased to provide a more

precise estimate of national need. Similarly, the use of a census for Alaska

Native Village systems increased the

precision of the need estimate compared

to the sampling methods used in the first

survey.

Does not include the costs associated with proposed SDWA regulations.

Note: Numbers may not total due to rounding.
The wells serving the city of Hollywood, Florida, had severe microbiological

contamination which fouled the membrane treatment system. In addition, the

combined output of the wells could not meet demand and the distribution system

routinely failed to reach minimum pressure standards. With a $13 million DWSRF

loan, the city drilled 12 new wells and added 1.5 miles of raw water lines.

Florida Department of Environmental Protection