By Louis Martin, RCAC staff writer

A new report titled, “Closing the Water Access Gap in the United States” by DigDeep, a nonprofit organization that focuses on safe drinking water, and the US Water Alliance has produced some alarming findings that are getting national attention.

DigDeep’s data concluded that race is the strongest indicator of water and sanitation access, and that poverty was the key obstacle to water access.

Native American Households are 19 times more likely than white households to lack indoor plumbing. Fifty-eight out of every 1,000 Native American households lack plumbing, compared with three out of every 1,000 white households, according to the report.

The wide-ranging report also concluded that more than two million Americans live without basic access to safe drinking water and sanitation. Of people living in rural areas, 17 percent report having experienced issues with safe drinking water, and another 12 percent have reported issues with their sewage system.

DigDeep made several recommendations to address disparages, including “redefining the problem” to treat access to safe drinking water as a national health crisis.

You can read the full report here: http://agenciafelicidad.cl/closethewatergap/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Dig-Deep_Closing-the-Water-Access-Gap-in-the-United-States_DIGITAL_compressed.pdf

You can read an NPR article on the Navajo water crisis here: https://www.npr.org/2019/11/18/779821510/many-native-americans-cant-get-clean-water-report-finds