Published: December 6, 2010
Groundswell and Northwestern University’s Chemistry Department are building a website to offer water quality information to Navajo residents. The EPA has identified many contaminated water sources, but government data comes in scientific language that is not accessible to most residents.
With support from the National Science Foundation, Northwestern Chemistry professor Franz Geiger contracted Groundswell to develop an interactive, user friendly website with educational extensions into Navajo communities concerned about water quality. There are more than 1,000 abandoned uranium mines on the Navajo reservation. Impacts to groundwater, livestock and family health concern many communities. The EPA and Navajo water researchers have investigated hundreds of wells scattered across the 25,000 square mile reservation. The new water website will enable Navajos to share their findings, educate residents and lobby for assistance. Navajo educators want more than signs with public health warnings.
Help us produce webisodes that empower Navajos to report about their own communities and share information. Click to select a level for your donation.
Although some people currently in industrial nations take water and sanitation for granted, approximately 884 million people lack use of safe standard water along with a total greater than 2.6 billion folks don’t have accessibility to basic sanitation. Each and every year, over two million people die as a result of deficit of normal water and diseases a result of contaminated water. Diarrhea, mainly a result of drinking infected water, is a second most essential root cause of the death of youngsters below age of five.