A short drive from Portland, thousands of people, a rural health clinic, businesses, and senior housing, are without safe tap water, and some don’t have running water at all.

This story may seem very familiar. For sure, serving 3,200+ ppl on a moment’s notice is familiar to Warm Springs emergency manager Danny Martinez.

Martinez also spent last summer wondering where a fire is going to start, and how they're going to put it out without pressure in the system.

But this time is worse, he told me. Twice as bad, he guessed. That's saying a lot because last summer the core region of the reservation was under a boil water notice 3+ mos. Now a new line break means there's a 45 mile stretch with emergency water needs, Martinez said.

Over the weekend the public utilities manager led an email to Tribal members w/ caps:

"WE ARE IN A CRITICAL STATE OF EMERGENCY WITH THE AGENCY WATER SYSTEM!"

(then shamed ppl for watering their lawns and filling up baby pools)

Last year, vols turned an old reservation school into a water distro center. Teens sacrificed their summer to carry around heavy jugs. Teacher Dorothea Thurby guessed she hand lifted 1,000 lbs/day. (furloughed from her job b/c boil notices trigger the daycare / pre-K closing.)

Yesterday 9 more cases of COVID-19 were reported on the Warm Springs reservation, acc/2 @KWSO https://kwso.org/2020/06/kwso-news-for-tue-jun-30-2020/

And ppl are being told to isolate, but keep in mind housing on the reservation is in short supply. Homes tend to be multi-generational. I got to meet the Rhoans and their granddaughter during a boil notice in 2019. Last week's line break means they're w/o safe running water again

This doesn't come down to one pipe or even one system tho. Much of Warm Springs’ infrastructure is old. Really old. But not as old as the Tribes’ 1855 treaty with the US, which promises certain govt services. US gains 10 million acres for just $200,000

https://oregonhistoryproject.org/articles/historical-records/wasco-warm-springs-reservation-map-1855/#.XvtyumhKiUk

last summer an Elder showed me the spring where he collects drinking water to haul it home many miles away. He argued that broken promises from the treaty have led directly to the current water crisis.

Tribal leaders and feds are negotiating again, 165 years since the first treaty created the reservation, and what would become the state of Oregon. I've been waiting since November for @EPAnorthwest to provide records about how those talks are going.

I even agreed to narrow and prioritize the FOIA to prioritize such not-so-blockbuster items as meeting agendas / minutes.

Today is @EPANorthwest's self-imposed deadline. Nada so far. While Warm Springs is again improvising to survive, this time during a global pandemic.