Santee Sioux Nation receives grant for water deliveries; officials stress need for long-term solution (2024)

The Santee Sioux Nation in northeast Nebraska, which has been under a no-drink order for five years, will have clean water delivered through the winter and into spring thanks to a $100,000 grant from the Sherwood Foundationthat will pay for bottled water deliveries.

The grant comes as the reservation had struggled in recent months to secure funds for clean drinking water after a $106,000 grant from the Bureau of Indian Affairs ran out in January. Since then,the reservation put $100,000 from their own account toward providing bottled water, but officials say they will need millions more in funding for a more permanent solution.

The residents were given a no-drink order in 2019 after the Environmental Protection Agency found levels of manganese in the water over the Health Advisory Limit, and up until they received the BIA grant last year, residents had to purchase their own water or in-house filtration systems or travel to fill containers at designated safe water zones such as the school, health center or grocery store.

At the school and health center, the clean water is free. But most people prefer the grocery store because it is the only option open in the evenings and seven days a week. Although more accessible, filling containers at the grocery store is expensive, time consuming and far from ideal, tribal vice chairman Kameron Runnels said.

To solve the underlying problem, they need $53 million for a project that will construct a pipeline to transfer water from the Randall Community Water District in South Dakota to the reservation.

The tribe, which iscomposed of the Sioux Nation, the Mdewakanton, Wahpekute,Sisseton and the Wahepton, has applied for multiple grants to cover the costs of the project, but officials are still waiting for answers.

'Caught up in federal bureaucracy'

The most recent issue with the water on the reservation is manganese, but it’s not the only issue. And it’s not new to the area. Clinton Powell, the tribe’s civil engineer, has been working on the Santee Sioux Nation’s water issue for 18 years, first with the federal Bureau of Reclamation before he began working for the reservation in 2019.

Four federal agencies — the EPA, Indian Health Service, Department of Agriculture and Bureau of Reclamation — are all involved in the proposed pipeline project and are responsible for helping the tribe acquire safe water, according to Powell.

“Getting all four of those agencies all rolling in the same direction is super difficult to do, and so a whole bunch of it has been caught up in federal bureaucracy for decades,” Powell said.

For decades, there has been naturally occurring radiation in the area along with nitrate contaminants from a nearby nitrate plume and other minerals that harden the water and make it unsafe for digesting. The cloudy water has particles of these minerals floating in it and the smell resembles sulfur — or rotten eggs, Powell said.

Manganese naturally occurs in the water in the area where the tribe settled in 1866 after it was removed by the U.S. government from their homeland in what is now Canada, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Nebraska.

The mineral also occurs in other areas along the Missouri River basin. Manganese is not a regulated contaminant, but has had a Health Advisory Limit of 1,000 parts per billion for short-term levels and 300 parts per billion for lifetime levels since 2004. There is no monitoring requirement, but between 2018 and 2020, drinking water systems began testing for manganese under the Fourth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule.

At times, tests on the reservation have shown manganese levels at 50 times higher than the EPA’s health-based guideline. There are often spikes and overall levels worsen during colder months.

That amount of manganese in the water potentially endangers adults, especially the elderly, who can develop a Parkinson’s disease-like disorder with prolonged exposure, and infants and children, who could see manganese cause lower IQs, speech and memory difficulties and a lack of coordination and movement control.

Residents also cannot use the water to brush their teeth, clean dishes or cook.

In addition, Runnels said it builds up and erodes pipes, which means sinks, water heaters and washers require more maintenance and cleaning and are ultimately replaced more often than ones with clean water running through them.

When the no-drink order was given, Runnels said people were shocked, but some didn’t understand the severity of the issue and continued to drink and use the water.

“It took some time for everyone to realize that we don’t know what our water is doing to us,” Runnels said.

Some households have water filtration systems, but they are expensive. Sometimes, when households run out of water bottles and can’t afford to buy their own, some people are left to use contaminated water from the faucets.

“All of us are having to use this water still, one way or another,” Runnels said.

Sherwood Foundation steps in

The Sherwood Foundation,a Nebraska nonprofit that provides grants for social justice causes, has worked with the tribe previously on discussions of a future child care center project and was aware of the water issue. Jim Hubbard, vice president of programs with the foundation, said he didn’t understand the full extent of the issue until the reservation experienced a shortage of bottled water due to a late and low shipment earlier this year.

Soon after, Hubbard reached out and notified Runnels of the foundation’s grant program. The tribe applied for and received a $100,000 grant from the foundation on June 10, which will cover their immediate need. Hubbard said if there’s still a need after the money runs out, he’s open to conversations to collaborate past this grant.

“We’re aware this is just a Band-Aid — or short term — but it gets people water to do what they need to do and continue to get day-to-day,” Hubbard said.

Runnels said when Hubbard had reached out, he was full of relief, but also surprised.

“It makes me think there's good people out there,” he said. “There are organizations out there that are actually willing to reach out to us.”

Each month, deliveries cost about $15,000 to supply approximately 800 residents with clean water. This grant will pay for the continued deliveries of 16-20 pallets of water twice a month, amounting to four to five cases on each household's doorstep.

Runnels said there have been no issues with deliveries since discussing the previous issue with the delivery company, co*ke.

In 2022, a bill in the Nebraska Legislature that would’ve put $6 million toward Santee Sioux water infrastructure was indefinitely postponed.

While visiting areas around Nebraska's 3rd Congressional District in 2023,including the reservation, Rep. Adrian Smith learned about the water issue. Earlier this year, he submitted a Community Project Funding Request, which went to the House Appropriations Committee.

“With the no-drink order having been in place for five years, it's high time we do what we can to find a solution,” Smith said.

Smith ended up getting $1.75 million earmarked for the tribe’s pipeline project.

In April, some tribal council members traveled to Lincoln and Washington, D.C., to speak with officials about the reservation’s unresolved issues. Smith and Sen. Deb Fischer are two of the people who said they wanted to help.

Last month, while Fischer spoke about the issue at an Appropriations Interior Subcommittee hearing, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and IHS committed to helping resolve the issue, according to a spokesperson in Fischer's office.

Fischer also submitted a Congressionally Direct Spending Request for $10 million to go toward the pipeline.

“Clean drinking water is not a luxury — every Nebraskan deserves access to a safe and reliable water source,” Fischer said in an email. “I will continue working with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service to ensure the Santee Sioux Nation has the resources they deserve.”

Hopes for the future

Even if the pipeline project is funded and approved, it will take two years before the reservation has clean water to cook with, drink and bathe in.

Runnels said he’s been thankful for every donation, both from individuals and also organizations such as the Indian Center in Lincoln, Omaha Nation and the Sherwood Foundation.

Runnels said the tribe has applied for funding for the pipeline from the Bureau of Reclamation, Water Sustainability Fund and USDA Rural Development. Earlier this year, the Nebraska Legislature made a decision to prioritize tribes under no-drink orders for a Water Sustainability Fund grant, which puts the reservation at the top of the list.

For now, the reservation is waiting on their applications and they don't know when they’ll hear back. If a combination of the grants were to be approved, the project could be fully funded.

Runnels said while the federal government is required under a signed treaty to provide necessities for the tribe and has tried their best, sometimes it’s not enough.

“They took all of our land. This is the one thing they should be able to try and give back to us,” Runnels said. “Give us this opportunity and give us clean water.”