Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
John Hollenhorst ReportingA deepening water crisis in Utah's most remote community has prompted a call for emergency funding.
Charlie Delorme, San Juan County Economic Development Director: "Three days, five days, possibly a week of water capacity, that we have should we be denied access due to weather conditions."
About 12-hundred people and two schools at Navajo Mountain normally depend on a single spring for their water. In recent weeks they've had to depend on a steady stream of water trucks, and today officials hit alarm bells over the future of that operation.
A string of bad luck has created an emergency in Navajo Mountain, with no clear solution in sight. First a wildfire, then a flashflood, the community water system is so badly damaged it's completely useless.
On the dirt road leading to Navajo Mountain it's a replay of a drought crisis four years ago. Water trucks, bringing in 12 truckloads of water a day, 21,000 gallons, to keep the community going. The bailout is costing $6,000 a day, according to San Juan County official Charlie DeLorme.
Charlie DeLorme, San Juan County, Economic Development Director: "The cost is a consideration. But the social demands and the social conscience insists that we bear that cost regardless of what that may be."
Navajo Mountain's inaccessibility is part of the problem. It takes hours of driving through Arizona to get to the community, separated from the rest of Utah by Lake Powell.
Charlie DeLorme: "This is considered the second most remote area in the 48 states, very difficult to access."
Repair crews have been unable to fix the community water system, which was severely damaged by fire and flood. Federal officials today announced they're going after emergency drought funds to keep the water trucks moving. But the immediate worry is that the first heavy snow will shut the trucks down entirely.
Charlie DeLorme: "If road access to this remote area is denied because of weather conditions, we're going to run out of water within a week."
Officials from the Bureau of Reclamation say they're optimistic about getting more money for the water trucks, and they haven't given up on fixing the spring-fed water system. The long-term solution, a pipeline from wells in Arizona, is three years away.
