Some 80,000 people in the Navajo Nation in Arizona may soon have access to much-needed clean water after 20 years of severe drought in the region.
While Arizona’s biggest aquifer sits directly under their land, it is nearly 400 feet from the surface and not suitable for drinking or domestic use. Because it is full of salt and polluted with arsenic and uranium, Navajo families must drive hundreds of miles away to get potable water. “It is an expensive and time-consuming journey that has become part of the Navajo way of life,” said Kevin Black, a Native American affairs specialist for the Bureau of Reclamation. Thankfully, scientists at the University of Arizona, along with the help of the Bureau, have come up with a solution that will work by using the power of the sun.
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Studies Show Southwest Faces Water Shortage/Payson Roundup