Indian Health Services officials visit the region
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed last year included $700 million a year for the next five years to improve tribal water and sanitation systems. The money will be used to clear a backlog in the Sanitation Deficiencies System List. At the top of that list sits “STEBBINS – Sewer Lagoon and Force Main.”
The projects include raising the lip of the current, overflowing honeybucket lagoon and building a much larger one nearby; building a water reservoir which will have water pumped in from Clear Lake, Stebbins’ water source, with a heated line to the village; replacing the moldy washeteria; and eventually getting water and sewer into houses, for which many will have to be lifted up to accommodate the piping.
Stebbins City Administrator Daisy Lockwood Katcheak was at a loss for words when contacted by the Nugget. Tearing up, she said she was still trying to recover from the good news. Lockwood Katcheak extended thanks to previous city administrators and a long list of staff members who had been engaging over the years. She explained that getting to this point had required extensive planning, as well as internal work, such as squaring away accounting and environmental issues.
Another key element was having the city, the IRA, and the Native corporation work together. “Locally, we came together and decided priorities. We made water and sewer as our first priority,” Lockwood Katcheak said. The three entities planned for years, holding quarterly meetings together and pooling funding for studies.
“It was incredible to see the level of impact these projects will make,” said Elizabeth Carr, Senior Advisor to the Director of the Indian Health Service, who visited Stebbins last week. “Hopefully in the next several years we’ll be able to come back and see some real change and real impact in the community. When the taps start running, we want to be here to see it.”
But construction is still a couple of years out. With Carr was Angel Dotomain, a Native of Shaktoolik, who is IHS’s Alaska Area Director. Dotomain explained that the 65 percent and 95 percent phases of the design and construction preparation start this summer, with the hope that all project documents and funding get transferred before the next round of money comes in next year.
The Sanitation Deficiencies System List, known as “the SDS List,” has been around since at least 1993. It is constantly being updated, including accounting for inflation in the project costs. Getting materials to communities is always an issue, as is the workforce. Dotomain explained that project estimates include the labor costs, and it is the community which chooses how to move the projects. In Stebbins, they’re already preparing, sending people out for training in heavy equipment and carpentry, including funded opportunities through Kawerak.
Lockwood Katcheak noted that this was Stebbins’ first big project since the AVEC building was built. Four projects are kicking off this summer at: the sewer lagoon and force main; the honeybucket lagoon; the solid waste site; and the washeteria. A temporary washeteria is on the first barge, and the permanent replacement will be on the last barge, she said.
Having so many projects in one community isn’t unusual. “Each of those parts of the system comes up for maintenance or improvements at different points in time. The work that happens, design, project documents tied to it, all happen at different speeds. Once they’re ready to go, then they’re ready for us to fund,” said Dotomain.
All 15 villages in the Bering Strait region have at least one project, with Gambell and Little Diomede having seven each. There are a total of 55 projects in the region across the stages of the process. The projects are split into Tiers 1, 2, and 3, with Tier 1 having planning completed, Tier 2 having some portion of the engineering assessment completed, and Tier 3 still identifying solutions. The first tranche of $700 million goes to Tier 1 projects, of which there are 114 in IHS’s Alaska Area, the second highest number after the Navajo Area.
In total, Alaska has 363 projects on the list. Carr said that the need in Alaska is unique, due to the rural and geographic perspectives that other places in the country don’t have, such as building on frozen tundra. “Understanding the uniqueness is the most important part,” she said, which is why it is so important for people from IHS’s headquarters to visit.
These visits allow for IHS to better understand how the projects, and villages, work, and how the program can be improved. The projects are implemented at the Alaska Area level, but somethings are dictated by statute. For example, IHS funds cannot currently be used to help build water and sewer to non-Native housing, such as teacher housing. This can be resolved legislatively.
Carr said the president’s proposed budget for FY23 asks for a mandatory budget for the Indian Health Service, which would be a first. “It would give IHS a bit more stability moving into the future,” she said. “The administration is taking very seriously its commitment to Indian Country.”
The visitors from IHS had lunch at Stebbins City Hall. Carr said the most impactful moment for her has being able to be there and congratulate them on the work they’ve done over the decades to be ready for this moment. “You could tell how happy and emotional they were,” she said. “It’s beyond huge.”
Lockwood Katcheak had to leave the meeting to call home and ask if it was real. “Our people are ecstatic.”