UACW focuses on closing the water gap in Indian Country and holding the federal government accountable under its treaty and trust responsibilities to Tribes. To lay this groundwork, UACW investigates the legal, economic, and historic impediments to water access for Tribal communities and documents solution pathways to address the lack of access to clean drinking water for Tribal communities.
Resources
New Report:
Trust Further Undermined - The President’s Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Request
Broken Trust - President Trump's Proposed FY 2026 Budget and Tribal Water
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act Funding Handbook (2024)
Universal Access to Clean Drinking Water: Challenges and Recommendations (2021)
UACW Comment Letters to Agencies
Committee on Energy and Commerce
EPA
EPA and Army Corps
EPA Inspector General
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
Indian Health Service
U.S. Dept. of Agriculture
EPA and Army Corps
Additional Resources
U.S. Govt. Accountability Office Tribal Water Infrastructure: Opportunities Exist to Improve Federal Assistance *Cites to UACW work
IHS Dashboard for Sanitation Facilities Construction Projects.
Draining: The Economic Impact of America’s Hidden Water Crisis (DigDeep Report)
Broken Promises: Continuing Federal Funding Shortfall for Native Americans
Water Delayed is Water Denied: How Congress has blocked access to water for Native families
American Indian Reservations and COVID-19: Correlates of Early Infection Rates in the Pandemic
Closing the Water Access Gap in the United States (DigDeep Report)
Center for Disease Control: Risk for COVID-19 Infection, Hospitalization, and Death by Race/Ethnicity
U.S. Government Accountability Office Tribal Consultation Report