{"id":78661,"date":"2026-09-02T12:38:57","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T19:38:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/?p=78661"},"modified":"2026-09-02T12:38:57","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T19:38:57","slug":"navajo-well-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/navajo-well-water\/","title":{"rendered":"Mapping safe drinking water on the Navajo Nation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since the dawn of uranium mining in the American Southwest, residents of the Navajo Nation have grappled with the grim health effects of exposure to radioactive material.\u00a0That\u2019s\u00a0why NAU chemistry professor\u00a0<\/span>Jani Ingram<\/span><\/b>\u00a0and a team of researchers, in partnership with Navajo Nation leaders, have been working to help these communities access safe, chemical-free drinking water.\u202f<\/span><\/p>\n

About a third of households on the Navajo Nation\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0have access to piped water and rely\u00a0largely on\u00a0well water as a drinking source. But because of the region\u2019s extensive history of uranium mining, and because private well water\u00a0isn\u2019t\u00a0regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act, much of that water is contaminated and unsafe to drink. Working with fellow NAU faculty members\u00a0<\/span>Nicky Teufel-Shone<\/span><\/b>,\u00a0<\/span>Tommy Rock<\/span><\/b>,\u00a0<\/span>Diana Calvo Martinez\u00a0<\/span><\/b>and a network of Din\u00e9 residents, Ingram sampled water in wells throughout the region and assisted in creating a map showing where well water is safe to drink and where it\u2019s best avoided.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve provided\u00a0them\u00a0our data on those wells,\u201d Ingram said. \u201cYou can see where your community is on the website map, and you can click on a well and get information about it.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ingram, whose mother is a member of the\u00a0Navajo Nation, shared findings from the research project\u00a0<\/span>at a recent meeting of the American Chemical Society<\/span><\/a>. Her presentation was part of a symposium titled \u201cCommunity Engagement as a Catalyst for Clean Water Quality Management.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In the presentation, Ingram explained that from 1944 to 1986, Navajo Nation lands across Arizona, New Mexico and Utah were extensively mined for uranium, a heavy metal found in rocks\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0used to build nuclear weapons and generate nuclear power. She said she remembered hearing stories from Din\u00e9 relatives who worked in the uranium mines.\u202f<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI didn’t really know the extent of the abandonment of those mines,\u201d Ingram said. \u201cI think you assume people clean up their messes, and that didn’t happen.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
An unregulated livestock well in western Navajo Nation used by households without indoor plumbing. Photo: Jani Ingram<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The abandonment of these mines led to uranium and other heavy metals seeping into nearby water resources. Although efforts are now underway to clean abandoned uranium mines, many still have the potential to contaminate the wells that supply drinking water for people and livestock. Uranium exposure has been linked to life-changing health issues such as kidney disease, lung cancer and fertility challenges.\u202f<\/span>\u202f\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt became clear that no one was monitoring these wells,\u201d Ingram said. \u201cEveryone on the reservation in that situation is on their own to find a water source for their households.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ingram worked with Navajo Nation tribal leaders to investigate potential water contamination,\u00a0identifying\u00a0and measuring the amount of uranium and other heavy metals in the\u00a0reservation\u2019s\u00a0water wells.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Because many of the wells were on rural lands that are difficult to reach, Ingram relied on Din\u00e9 residents and students to\u00a0accompany\u00a0her and\u00a0locate\u00a0wells from which to retrieve water samples. She and her collaborators found that uranium levels in some of the wells were above 30 parts per billion, the upper limit for safe drinking water set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The research team also found elevated levels of arsenic and manganese in some samples, other harmful substances that can cause cancer and neurological disorders.\u202f<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ingram\u2019s team and her Navajo Nation collaborators designed and distributed educational materials\u00a0identifying\u00a0which wells were considered safe for sourcing drinking water. They also attended tribal community meetings on reservation lands, spoke to community\u00a0leaders\u00a0and\u00a0identified\u00a0other culturally\u00a0appropriate ways\u00a0to share their findings with community members.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ingram also provided data to other community organizations working to educate residents on safe water sources.\u00a0For example, the data are accessible on<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>a website built by the University of New Mexico that maps wells<\/span><\/a>\u00a0that have been tested on reservations.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ultimately, Ingram said,\u00a0her goal is to provide peer-reviewed water quality data that Din\u00e9 leaders can use to support their requests for improved infrastructure.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHaving this data is really good for the community,\u201d Ingram says. \u201cIf they\u00a0request\u00a0that a new well be dug, it tends to be that the deeper the well, the cleaner it is. If they have a regulated well, they can request a filter system for it. Our data gives them another tool to help make those arguments.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The research was funded by the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the Environmental Protection Agency, the American Cancer Society, the Native American Research Centers for\u00a0Health\u00a0and the U.S. Department of Energy.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Northern<\/span><\/p>\n


\nJill Kimball | NAU Communications
\n(928) 523-2282 | jill.kimball@nau.edu<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since the dawn of uranium mining in the American Southwest, residents of the Navajo Nation have grappled with the grim health effects of exposure to radioactive material.\u00a0That\u2019s\u00a0why NAU chemistry professor\u00a0Jani Ingram\u00a0and a team of researchers, in partnership with Navajo Nation leaders, have been working to help these communities access safe, chemical-free drinking water.\u202f About a…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2880,"featured_media":78665,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-academics"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2880"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78661"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78668,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78661\/revisions\/78668"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}