Amidst the arid red landscape of Navajo Nation, Tim Holiday takes a second to look up to the sky. Unfazed by the wind from the season’s first monsoon, he stands there as a fleeting feeling of relief finally trickles down his body. Without the proper infrastructure, this storm won’t change his everyday struggle for water.
A normal day in Tim’s life involves taking multiple trips to haul hundreds of gallons of water for his mother. This is common within his community, as 1 in 3 Navajo residents must travel long distances to procure water for their homes, paying roughly $600 for it as a result of poor water infrastructure. Even so, a Navajo home consumes just seven gallons a day, compared to the 100 gallons used by the average American household.
Washington County, located in southwestern Utah, shares one commonality with the Navajo Nation despite being roughly 80 miles apart: their water source. Both areas get their water from the Colorado River Basin, a critical resource for southwestern states. However, that’s where the commonalities end, as Washington County’s water consumption averaged 145 gallons per day in 2025, more than 20 times the consumption of the Navajo Nation.
The lack of proper resource distribution between these two communities is further exacerbated by the emerging megadrought in the Southwest that started in 2000. The Colorado River Basin has shrunk because of the drought, further hurting the Navajo community. Since 2020, the river flow has declined a yearly average of 33% , leaving the Navajo severely resource-deprived.
Storms such as North American monsoons move through the Four Corners, the area Navajo Nation is centered, and somewhat help alleviate the drought. Characterised by rapid downpours, these heavy storms occur only during the summer season. However, in summer 2026, these storms didn’t help the Navajo Nation since much of the 2-4 inches of rain produced went to waste due to poor water infrastructure in the community.
To make matters worse, the Navajo population lacks adequate government support on this issue. In the 2023 case Arizona v. Navajo Nation , the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hold the federal government accountable for ensuring the Navajo Nation’s water rights were properly fulfilled. Travelling long distances has been the short-term solution for a lack of infrastructure that other communities, like Washington County, already have in place.
Without government aid, the Navajo Nation has taken matters into its own hands. The Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project , for instance, will draw water from the San Juan River (a tributary of the Colorado River) through nineteen pumping plants and two water treatment plants. However, the project started construction in 2012, and is expected to start delivering water in 2028 .
Meanwhile, humanitarian organisations such as DigDeep, through its Navajo Water Project have taken it upon themselves to help the Navajo community. What started in 2014 with helping one family has expanded to serve more than 250 families across towns in the Navajo Nation. They base their mission on bringing clean, running water to more households, primarily by installing off-grid Home Water Systems.
As of June 2026, the exigence of the drought has brought Navajo Nation lawmakers to act again. Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren signed multiple Memorandums of Agreement to advance more than $10.5 million in federally funded water infrastructure projects. By expanding access to clean water, this investment is expected to help reduce the costs associated with hauling water.
The Navajo Nation Resources and Development Committee has also approved an additional $34 million to further invest in water infrastructure, with $9.45 million allocated to the Department of Agriculture for livestock feed, farm and ranch infrastructure, irrigation repairs, and programs to mitigate drought. If approved by the Budget and Finance Committee and the Navajo Nation Council, the package would become one of the Nation’s largest recent investments in drought response.
“Drought is no longer a seasonal challenge. It is a long-term reality that requires decisive action and sustained investment,“ said Speaker Crystalyne Curley, who sponsored the legislation.
Yet as these funds move through the approval process, residents like Tim Holiday continue to take matters into their own hands, and push to secure a more sustainable water source for their communities. Only time will tell how their investments will pan out.
The Navajo Nation, whether hauling water or investing in infrastructure, won’t give in, working resiliently for a better future for their communities.