This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The people of Navajo Mountain have four days worth of water.
And if the spring-fed pipeline that supplies the isolated San Juan County community isn't fixed by winter, its 1,200 residents will be forced to continue trucking in fresh water from out of state at a cost of $5,000 to $6,000 a day.
"We can't quite figure out what is causing [the pipeline] not to work," said Rick Bailey, San Juan County administrator and director of emergency services.
For the past five weeks, four trucks carrying more than 22,000 gallons of fresh water make several treks from Shonto, Ariz., to Navajo Mountain, a 64-mile round trip.
Navajo Mountain is a steep, rugged area, where 97 percent of the residents are American Indians. Less than half of those over the age of 25 have earned a high school degree, and the median household income in 2000 was around $14,000, according to http://www.city-data.com.
The water shortage "is a pretty serious problem for these people," said Roger Hansen, the spokesman for the Bureau of Reclamation's Provo Office.
The Bureau of Reclamation has been scrambling to secure $75,000 in federal emergency funds to continue paying for those water deliveries, which help satisfy the community's personal and sanitary needs.
"They are moving the emergency request through the system as fast as they can and we don't foresee any problems," said Barry Wirth, the spokesman for the Bureau of Reclamation's Upper Colorado Regional Office. "We're not going to be a part of leaving people stranded."
The most recent water problem at Navajo Mountain began in August when heavy rains washed away eight to 10 feet of soil that covered the pipeline, which connects a nearby spring to the town's water reserve tanks.
The flood broke or caused major damage to about two dozen 20-foot sections of water line. The Navajo Department of Water Resources has since repaired or replaced areas by laying new pipe, fixing connector joints, rebedding the soil and pressurizing the system. But for some reason, the water won't flow, Bailey said.
"Our problem is going to be if they can't get this pipeline fixed and winter comes and it gets snowed in," Bailey said.
Hansen is hoping the emergency funding will be available within the next few days.
Natural disasters, including a drought in 2002, and a wildfire in June that burned about 5,500 acres near Navajo Mountain have contributed to the corrosion of the aging pipeline.
Rainfall after the June fire loosened ash, soot and foliage, which clogged the water system's filters. Trucks had to haul water into the community for three weeks until the spring was once again usable, Bailey said.
Lynn Stevens, the San Juan County Commission chairman and Utah public lands policy coordinator, said Navajo Mountain's water problem recurs nearly every time it rains. But allowing the community to function without running water is out of the question.
"That's just a totally unacceptable solution," he said.
The long-term solution to Navajo Mountain's water problem is to stop using the spring and build a pipeline stretching from Inscription, Ariz., 30 miles away, to Navajo Mountain, Bailey said.
A rural development agency housed under the federal Department of Agriculture is willing to provide $3.4 million to build the pipeline, but the money won't be available until 2009, after environmental and engineering requirements for the project are met, Bailey said. Navajo Mountain also would have to apply for $400,000 in loans to help pay for the six-month project.
For now, the people of Navajo Mountain will have to rely on those daily truck shipments and bottled water recently donated by Wal-Mart and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
"We are able to monitor [the water supply] right now, but if the weather comes hard and heavy, it's a significantly more difficult situation," Bailey said.