On Parched Navajo Reservation, ‘Water Lady’ Brings Liquid Gold

 The yellow truck slogged along the red-dirt roads in this impoverished corner of the Navajo reservation last week, its belly full of water — liquid gold in a treasure chest on wheels. The truck’s driver, Darlene Arviso, steered it patiently, up, down and around pockmarks chiseled on the ground by a recent downpour.

“So much rain, but a lot of people with no water,” she mumbled, angling toward the entrance of a mud-splashed hogan, the traditional Navajo hut that was the first stop on her delivery route that day.

Her job is simple: She brings clean water to people who have none of it at home. One-third of the roughly 50,000 households on the Navajo reservation face this problem, one of the highest concentrations of water-poor homes in the country. A multiyear drought has only made it worse.

Water has never been abundant for the Navajo people, whose land straddles the high desert across three states — New Mexico, Arizona and Utah. That has created a culture of conservation, making Navajos a model for much of the parched West, even as their own search for water has also become more of a challenge.


Responses to "The Water Lady: A savior among the Navajo Nation"

  1. Iberostar says:

    Thank you, Water Lady. Your dedication is honored.

  2. Anonymous says:

    Is there a way to donate to this woman's good work to help her buy gas and pay for the water?

  3. Unknown says:

    Yes. How do we donate?

  4. Unknown says:

    how do we donate?

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