A focus on maintenance and administrative fixes would improve tribal water service, report says

GAO report makes recommendations about ways to help ensure dependable access to water for tribal residents in Alaska and elsewhere

A water treatment plant and washeteria in Eek is seen in 2024. Eek is a Yup'ik village of about 400 people located in the Yukon-Kuskokwim region. Federal agencies, led by the Indian Health Service, have invested in water and wastewater infrastructure construction. They could save money in the long run if they assist in system operations and maintenance, a report from the Governmental Accountability Office says. (Photo provided by the Alaska Division of Community and Regional Affairs)

By Yereth Rosen

Alaska Beacon

he federal government’s programs for tribal water services are hampered by a lack of follow-up to support operation and maintenance, along with overly specific qualification rules and other administrative hurdles, a new federal report says.

The report, issued Wednesday by the Government Accountability Office, makes a dozen recommendations for legislative and administrative actions that it says would improve both the water services that protect people’s health in rural Alaska communities and elsewhere, as well as the effectiveness of the money spent to provide them.

The federal government provided a little over $1 billion in 2025 to design and build water systems in tribal communities around the nation, the report said. About three quarters of the money was from the Indian Health Service, while the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture provided the remainder.

However, there are some inconsistencies in application requirements from the different agencies, creating both gaps in support and administrative burdens for communities needing help, according to the report.

One of the key recommendations concerns deteriorating and failing infrastructure. Inadequate support for operations and maintenance winds up creating more costs for the federal agencies, the report said.

“Tribal water infrastructure deteriorating or prematurely failing because of insufficient O&M can increase long-term capital costs to the federal government when it has to fund extensive repairs or replacement,” it said.

To address the problem, the GAO report recommends that Congress authorize the Indian Health Service to start a pilot program to fund operations and maintenance. If that proves effective, such funding could be sustained into the future, the report said.

Currently, the Indian Health Service considers operations and maintenance funding to be outside of its jurisdiction, the report said.

The consequences of poor operations and maintenance go beyond dollars, the report noted.

“Lack of tribal capacity to fund O&M can create health risks by reducing tribal members’ access to safe drinking water,” it said.

In Alaska in particular, there are special challenges that make it difficult for communities to keep their water systems working in good order, the report said.

One is the high cost of energy in remote rural areas. Alaska Native villages rely on electricity and fuel to keep their stored water from freezing in the winter, the report noted. Doing that, which is necessary to keep water systems operating, can consume a third of communities’ total energy costs, said the report, which relied on information provided by the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium.

Freeze-ups in pipes and water storage systems can be extremely disruptive in rural Alaska communities. During particularly cold weather last winter, several Northwest Arctic Borough communities lost service, with wide-ranging effects like school closures. The state issued a disaster declaration in response.

One of the communities, Ambler, went without water and sewer service for months. Repairs are currently underway.

The report made several recommendations for altering qualifications and application rules. For example, the definition of qualified tribal households is too narrow and should be broadened by Congress, the report said.

Another recommendation is for the Department of Agriculture to drop some of its financial reporting requirements, which have proved difficult for many tribal governments and which the other agencies do not require.

The report is based on site visits to tribal communities in Alaska and Arizona, as well as consultation with the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium and other organizations.

• Yereth Rosen came to Alaska in 1987 to work for the Anchorage Times. She has been reporting on Alaska news ever since, covering stories ranging from oil spills to sled-dog races. She has reported for Reuters, for the Alaska Dispatch News, for Arctic Today and for other organizations. Alaska Beacon is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.