Helping Neighbors in Need

The residents of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Reservation have had major problems with their domestic water supply recently.  The problems are so bad that there has been no water delivery to homes or other buildings via the municipal piped water system for weeks now.The problems include breaks in the water main, and prior to that, boil water notices due to inadequate filtration of the domestic water which is drawn directly from the Deschutes River.A date for completion of the water main repairs still remains in the future.  Until the water main repairs are complete, residents must use bottled water at home.  Showers have been provided using the mobile showers firefighting camps use.On Tuesday, June 18, the Deschutes River Alliance delivered 100-gallon jugs of commercial purified spring water to the water crisis command and distribution center in Warm Springs.  This was a veritable drop in the bucket compared to the overall need. But we’ll return again next week with another delivery. We’ve been told that Warm Springs is going through about 600-gallons a day of bottled water. The entire population that lives south of Highway 26 is presently without water.Our offering of 100-gallons of water was very warmly received.  We’d like to suggest that others make similar donations. Gallon jugs are requested to limit the amount of plastic that will need to be recycled after the crisis is over.