Alaska Rural Utility Collaborative

Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium

By Honoring Nations

Honoring Nations 2016 Awardee

Twice the size of Texas, Alaska is the largest state in the U.S. More than 175,000 Native people live within its 663,000 square miles. The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) was founded in 1997 to ensure the health and wellbeing of Alaska's widely dispersed Native communities.

ANTHC provides world-class health services, which include comprehensive medical services, wellness programs, disease research and prevention, rural provider training, and rural water and sanitation systems construction. In 2007, the Consortium began an initiative focused on sanitation and clean water--critical contributors to good health.

Alaska Rural Utility CollaborativeHonoring Nations

Complicated Infrastructure

Indoor plumbing is a basic amenity that most Americans take for granted. Today, 32 communities and 3,300+ homes rely on honey buckets as toilets (pictured).

For rural Alaska, providing water and sanitation service is not an easy task when temperatures get very cold, and infrastructure is often too complicated and expensive for local governments to operate and maintain alone.

Due to limited jobs for income, rural Alaska community members depend on subsistence harvesting and public assistance, all while dealing with a higher cost of living. Often, communities have to decide between paying for food or their utility bills.

According to a recent study in Alaska, energy costs are roughly 40% of water and sanitation operating costs, and 70 to 300 times higher than the national average.

Alaska Rural Utility CollaborativeHonoring Nations

Pulling Together to Keep Water Flowing

In response, the Alaska Rural Utility Collaborative was created to leverage economies of scale and facilitate collaboration among Alaska Native communities to empower, support and assist with system management, operations and maintenance.

Today, the Collaborative's 26 member communities retain ownership of their water and sanitation systems, and receive a foundation of financial and technical support with the ultimate goal of building local operational capacity.

Alaska Rural Utility CollaborativeHonoring Nations

Control Through Collaboration

By partnering through the Collaborative, Alaskan communities have strengthened their authority over water and sanitation systems and demonstrate increased capacity and self-governance.

Before joining the Collaborative, not one community had a maintenance reserve to cover emergency repairs. Today, 25 of the 26 member communities boast a reserve account that is fully funded, and the final is making great progress toward this goal.

Alaska Rural Utility CollaborativeHonoring Nations

Bringing The Lessons Home

No one should have to live with unhygienic water and substandard sanitation systems. The Collaborative is leveraging talent from across its member communities to keep budgets balanced and water flowing while also helping communities achieve independence.

Access to reliable water and sanitation services ultimately ensures the wellbeing and continuity of Alaska Native culture. Families are able to remain on traditional lands and pass down their Alutiiq, Dena'ina, Inupiaq, Yup'ik, and Siberian Yup'ik heritage to the next generation.

Alaska Rural Utility CollaborativeHonoring Nations

Lesson 1 - Community Collaboration

Community utility programs can deliver potable water at affordable costs by joining forces and capitalizing on economies of scale.

Alaska Rural Utility CollaborativeHonoring Nations

Lesson 2 - Building Local Capacity

Access to resources to train local water and sanitation system operators supports capacity development and promotes self-governance.

Alaska Rural Utility CollaborativeHonoring Nations

Lesson 3 - The Health of Our People

Safe drinking water and proper sewage disposal are crucial for human health and help ensure a better quality of life in every community.

Honoring Nations 2016 Awardee: Alaska Rural Utility CollaborativeHonoring Nations

2016 Awards Presentation

Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium

Credits: Story

Honoring Nations: 2016 Awardee
Alaska Rural Utility Collaborative
Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium

This exhibit was curated by the Project on Indigenous Governance and Development, Honoring Nations national awards program with the assistance of the Alaska Rural Utility Collaborative and Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium.


Honoring Nations 2016 Awards Report:
https://hwpi.harvard.edu/files/hpaied/files/aruc-_final.pdf?m=1639579002

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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