Tribal leaders engage Colorado Senator Bennet to ensure universal access to clean water on reservations
Lorelei Cloud is a member of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, a relatively small tribe of 1,500 members, 1,000 of which live on the tribe’s reservation covering a little more than 1,000 square miles south of Durango abutting the border with New Mexico. Cloud’s experience is not uncommon in tribal homes across the country, as nearly 48% of them — representing more than half a million people — do not have “access to reliable water sources, clean drinking water or basic sanitation,” according to a 2017 congressional report.