(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Christopher Chee waited in line for two hours to fill his water tank in Oljato-Monument Valley, San Juan County, on June 22, 2020. More than 30% of Navajo Nation households lack running water, and the problem is even worse in San Juan County where over 40% of Navajo Nation residents have to haul water. Families fill jugs at communal wells or buy bottled water from stores, both costly and time-consuming burdens that have become only more difficult during the pandemic.
Zak is the southeast Utah reporter for The Tribune. He has been writing from Bluff, Utah, since 2015 and is the author of Confluence: Navigating the Personal & Political On Rivers of the New West. His second book, which will cover the decline of Lake Powell, is forthcoming from Torrey House Press in 2024.