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He’s a scientist, member of the local wastewater authority and founding member of a volunteer steering committee dedicated to environmental health. Together, elders in the community decide how they can most improve the health of their people and find ways to make it happen.
Mari Eggers is an environmental health researcher with Montana State University in Bozeman and fellow committee member.
Andreini said he often hears government officials and politicians say they don’t understand how tribal governance and systems work, challenging their ability to come up with solutions.
Andrea Gerlak, a University of Arizona water policy researcher, said that newer models of complex financing that have come as a result of government agency cuts – such as loans, bonds and public-private partnerships – don’t always work for poor, disenfranchised communities.
She drives hundreds of miles every day along dirt roads, filling up 5-gallon drums so Navajo families can drink safe water.