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
To the Committee on Energy and Commerce re Safe Drinking Water Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2026
Sept. 3, 2026
To EPA re Rescission of Regulatory Determinations and Removal of Related Provisions for Four PFAS Substances and the mixture of three PFAS Plus.
July 20, 2026
To EPA and Army Corps of Engineers re proposed revisions to the definitions of Waters of the United States (WOTUS)
Jan. 5, 2026
To EPA Inspector General re Audit of WPA’s water infrastructure set-aside grants to Tribes.
July 16, 2025
To Bureau of Reclamation re allocation of funding from Inflation Reduction Act
Jan. 17, 2023
To Indian Health Service re allocation of funding from Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
Jan. 21, 2022
To USDA re identifying barriers in USDA programs and advancing racial justice and support for underserved communities
Aug. 14, 2021
Additional Resources
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