Improving Sustainability and Resiliency of Tribal and Rural Utilities to Protect Human Health and Increase Access to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation

In 2003, approximately 13% of homes in Indian Country lacked access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. While funding has been expended since then to address the issue, the need for access is growing faster than available funding can support. An Infrastructure Task Force (ITF) of federal partners was formed to help address the issue. The ITF identified that improving sustainability of tribal systems helps extend the useful life of the infrastructure, reduces the need for repeat access, and enable s available funding to be focused on first time access. Sustainability helps funding dollars go further in protecting human health and the environment. In recent years, the ITF worked to identify obstacles to sustainability and how to overcome them, and provided training to help utilities achieve sustainability. ITF efforts for tribal utilities can also be applied to rural community utilities, who face similar challenges in their long-term management and sustainability.