In the Navajo community of Pueblo Pintado, some 30 families scattered around the community have to haul their drinking and washing water long distances.
The water comes out of pipes 30 miles away in Lybrook or 43 miles away in Crownpoint, said Rena Murphy, coordinator at the Pueblo Pintado senior center.
Sometimes, when the drive is too much or no vehicle is available, Murphy lets residents fill up small containers at the center. “My elderlies,” she said, “when they run out of water, will bring 5 gallons and 10 gallons to the senior center.”
The Pueblo Pintado water haulers are among an estimated 63,500 people on the Navajo Nation who lack running water. Some drive as far as 100 miles in their trucks to fill water tanks, Navajo Nation statistics show.
As gasoline prices rise, hauling water is increasingly expensive. Taking into account the gas and time required to haul water, Navajo Nation water planners estimate that in 2003 it cost tribal members at least
$16,000 per acre-foot, or almost $5 per gallon.
2 thoughts on “And you think gasoline is expensive”
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Back in 2002, I broke down near Whitehorse, middle of nowhere! I’m from SoCal, traveling through, by myself – bno cell phone. When I came to a stop, I couldn’t see a fence, wire, house, NADA! It was 107, smoky from the N. AZ fires. I had to hitchhike 62 miles to Cuba, just to get a truck to come back and tow me on beyond, to Escalante. That’s some way to start a road trip.
The only people out were Indians driving water. They would fill 2 55 g barrels at a time, in the back of a pickup. Drive at 45mph for long distances. The 45 mph drove me crazy, but then I figured it out: they had air-conditioning. Better mileage, and a cool place to be.
But it was sad that poor people had to drive water around. BTW, the hitch-hiking was real easy, everyone was real nice. People who couldn’t speak English would pick me up. I have blond hair and a goatee, so I stood out.
Having spent a lot of time working and living around people who have very little, I have often noticed that it is frequently those who have the least who are most willing to give of what they have. Maybe because they understand the nature of need better than those who enjoy security. People in remote places who drive vehicles that aren’t always totally reliable intimately understand the need for a ride from time to time. Richard was fortunate to have broken down in such a place. In SoCal it would have been a lot harder to get a stranger to stop and help. (And you might need to be more leery of anyone who did stop.) In my experience, country folks tend not only to be more trusting, but more trustworthy. (The two go hand in hand, of course.)