2015 Clean Water Indian Set-Aside Program Infographic
The infographic highlights important facts about the tribal communities wastewater and the Clean Water Indian Set-Aside Program.
Text Version of the Infographic
EPA supports tribal communities in improving wastewater infrastructure to ensure access to basic sanitation for Indian Country.
Growing Need for Access to Basic Sanitation for Indian Country
The American Indian and Alaska Native (tribal) population increased 8.4 percent more than the national average from 2000 to 2010, based on the U.S. Bureau of the Census.
Six percent of a total of approximately 399,000 tribal homes lack access to safe drinking water or wastewater facilities, based on the Indian Health Service Sanitation Tracking and Reporting System (IHS-STARS).
American Indian and Alaska Native populations are unique, based on Federal Register, Volume 78, Number. 87, “Indian Entities Recognized and Eligible To Receive Services From the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs,” because:
- A higher proportion of tribal communities use water for subsistence living, traditions, and worship
- They are often very remote and rural
- Each Federal recognized tribe is a unique sovereign nation
Exposure to untreated wastewater poses a danger of disease by potentially increasing occurrences of:
- Gastrointestinal illnesses such as hepatitis A, gastroenteritis, and giardiasis (giardia)
- Respiratory illnesses such as pneumonia
- Skin diseases such as staph infections
Raw sewage often contains:
- Parasites, viruses, and bacteria
- Pharmaceuticals
- Chemical toxins, including metals and pesticides
The lack of access to wastewater service means:
- Broken sewer lines
- Children playing in septic overflow
- Human waste carried in five-gallon buckets
- Pipes carrying wastewater directly into streams and waterways, without treatment
Tribal communities are located across the U.S. To provide adequate wastewater service to the tribal population, over $1 billion is needed, based on IHS-STARS.
Progress is Being Made, Drop by Drop
EPA's Clean Water Indian Set-Aside (CWISA) program funding is dedicated to the planning, design, and construction of wastewater treatment systems for American Indians and Alaska Natives. Types of projects typically carried out include:
- Septic Tanks / Drain Fields (32.3 percent of total projects)
- Wastewater Treatment Plants (24 percent of total projects)
- Lagoons (21.9 percent of total projects)
- Lift Stations (9.4 percent of total projects)
- Piping Projects (8.3 percent of total projects)
- Other (e.g., grinder pumps, aerators) (4 percent of total projects)
From 2005 through 2015, 874 projects have been funded through CWISA. EPA provided 65,562 tribal homes with access to basic wastewater sanitation, in coordination with other federal partners.
In FY 2015, CWISA awarded roughly $29 million for 80 wastewater treatment construction projects to serve 12,115 tribal homes. Forty percent of this assistance provided first-time access to safe wastewater services.
As progress is made, challenges are being addressed through in-person and online training. Since 2011, EPA has provided 16 in-person water and wastewater infrastructure operation and maintenance workshops. The workshops reached 510 people representing over 123 tribes.
The Infrastructure Task Force (ITF) promotes access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation in tribal communities by connecting tribes with infrastructure and resources. The task force aims to maximize these federal investments by improving the capacity of tribes to perform operations and maintenance of their facilities. The ITF is a multi-agency initiative led by EPA and composed of:
- Indian Health Service
- U.S. Department of Agriculture
- U.S. Department of Interior
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Work is Ongoing
In 2000, the U.S. agreed to support the United Nations Millennium Development Goal to reduce the number of homes without access to water and basic sanitation.
EPA and other federal agencies aim to provide an additional 14,300 American Indian and Alaskan Native homes with access to basic sanitation by 2018.