It鈥檚 a windy morning and dozens of residents are lined up in cars and trucks on the main road through To鈥橦ajiilee, a Navajo community west of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
They鈥檙e eagerly waiting for the clock to strike 10 a.m., when local government staff will begin loading up their trunks and pickup beds with cases of bottled water.
To鈥橦ajiilee roughly means 鈥渄ripping water鈥� in Din茅, and yet water is residents' biggest worry.
Shirley King is part of one of about 300 families picking up water today.
鈥淲e are in dire need of water 鈥� better water that we could drink from the sink," she said. "In Albuquerque, they do, you know, they boil water. They make coffee and cook with it. We don鈥檛.鈥�
A 7-mile pipeline promises to bring clean water to the community, with construction scheduled to start soon. But for now, people have to drive 45 minutes to Albuquerque to buy water or wait in lines like this every month.
Still, a lot of people in line don鈥檛 know what鈥檚 happening with the pipeline. What鈥檚 the timeline? Has work already begun on the reservation? How will their water bills change?
鈥淚鈥檓 sure it鈥檚 not going to be free,鈥� King says. 鈥淪o when it comes here, I don鈥檛 know if they鈥檙e gonna put a meter on or what."
Right now, it鈥檚 a flat $25 per month for households to use the natural water, which comes from the Rio Puerco. It's corrosive and smells like rotten eggs. A lot of families don鈥檛 pay that fee and one reason is because they aren鈥檛 being billed.
That includes people like Cecil Atencio, who is also in the line to get bottled water.
鈥淚 haven鈥檛 paid for the water yet out here,鈥� said Atencio. 鈥淲hen the new pipeline, when the water comes, it might change. The way I think about it, I think it鈥檚 OK.鈥�
Nora Morris is the To鈥橦ajiilee chapter vice president. She said the water department isn鈥檛 currently staffed. That's why bills aren鈥檛 going out, and also partly why she can鈥檛 say how billing may change when the pipeline is built.
But she thinks residents would like it if their bills stayed a fixed amount. Although things will change, Morris knows people are excited for this new chapter.
鈥淪ome of them are already talking about [wanting] to have their own swimming pool,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hose are just dreams that they thought of years ago and it鈥檚 finally going to become a reality.鈥�
Also picking up water today is Rose Chicharello. She has dreamed about clean water coming to To鈥橦ajiilee for years. 鈥淚 told my husband when the new line 鈥� when the new waterline comes in 鈥� I said, 'I want you to build me a small storage, and I want a new washing machine, I want a dryer, and I want a shower in there with clean water,' I told him.鈥�
Her husband has since passed away, but Chicharello said her sons are committed to building her a storage room.
Chicharello, who is 75, has lived in To鈥橦ajiilee her whole life. When she was little, she remembers, her grandma used to go to a nearby canyon to collect rainwater from depressions in the sandstone.
鈥淎nd she used to save these cans 鈥� coffee cans 鈥� there would be like a puddle of water on the rocks,鈥� she said.
The kids would scoop the water out and pass the cans to their grandpa, who would pour it in a barrel.
鈥淎nd that was our drinking water 鈥� rain water,鈥� she said.
To鈥橦ajiilee鈥檚 next phase may include a laundromat or a gas station 鈥� businesses that have failed in the community due to its lack of suitable water.
This story was supported by , an initiative from the University of Colorado Boulder鈥檚 .
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