&EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
• I
Clean Water Indian Set-Aside Grant Program
Annual Report 2015
The Clean Water Indian Set-Aside Program (CWISA) provides funding for wastewater infrastructure to American Indian tribes and Alaska
Native Villages. Since the program's establishment in 1987, CWISA has provided $457.6 million to help finance more than 1,300
independent projects, from establishing first-time wastewater connections to constructing sewers and rehabilitating systems. EPA
administers the program in cooperation with the Indian Health Service's (IMS) Sanitation Facilities Construction Program.
Program Accomplishments
In 2015, EPA awarded $29 million for wastewater treatment construction that will help to provide over 12,000 households with new or
improved access to wastewater services. Approximately 40% of these homes will receive first-time access to safe wastewater services.
The last of 96 CWISA projects funded by the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act have now been completed. These projects
included the construction or repair of septic tanks and drain fields, wastewater treatment plants, lagoons, lift stations and collection
pipes. Between 2005 and 2015, the CWISA provided over 65,000 tribal homes with access to basic wastewater sanitation1. The CWISA is
making significant progress to reduce sanitary deficiencies in Indian country, though needs remain. One in 20 tribal and native house-
holds still lack complete working indoor plumbing2. In Alaska alone, one in 16 tribal and native households lack such facilities2. To address
these needs, EPA and its federal partners plan to provide an additional 14,300
American Indian and Alaskan Native homes with access to basic sanitation by
2018.
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CWISA 2015
Number of Homes Served
5- 158
159-381
382 - 596
597-1549
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Communities Served
The CWISA serves tribal communities that often are located in low-income and
rural areas facing significant challenges in addressing wastewater concerns.
Issues such as a lack of funding, technical resources and community support
can hinder tribal communities from gaining access to sanitation services. As
the tribal population increases at a rate faster than the total U.S. population3,
it is becoming especially difficult to meet critical sanitation needs.
To identify and quickly assist communities with the greatest need, EPA works
closely with IMS to identify high-priority areas and projects for funding and
technical assistance. The EPA and IMS CWISA coordinators rank eligible
applications for funding based on the IMS Sanitation Deficiency System, a data
system that identifies sanitary deficiencies for existing Indian homes based on
annual IMS surveys. Ranking factors include health impact, existing deficiency
level, previous service, capital cost, operations and maintenance capability,
financial contributions from the community, local tribal priority, and local
conditions. Once the CWISA coordinators select projects for funding, each
tribal community can choose to manage its own project, or allow IMS to
administer the project on the tribe's behalf.
Office of Wastewater Management
EPA-832-F-15007
December 2015
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2015 Case Studies
Providing Technical Assistance with Tribal Needs in Mind
The CWISA's primary goal is to protect public health and the environment by providing access to basic sanitation facilities for tribal resi-
dents, in alignment with the goals of tribal communities. CWISA funding is dedicated to the planning, design, and construction of
wastewater collection and treatment systems for tribes so their individual needs are met. Through CWISA funding, communities are able
to find solutions to wastewater infrastructure needs tailored to local circumstances. Investment in wastewater infrastructure protects the
societal and cultural values of water resources and improves the health of ecosystems for both flora and fauna.
Case Study: Decentralized wastewater systems for homes in the Lac Vieux Desert Band in Watersmeet, Michigan
The decentralized systems serving several homes in the Lac Vieux Desert Band of the Chippewa
Indian Community in Watersmeet, Michigan, had failed. The leaking mound systems and ponding
effluent from drain fields resulted in pools of untreated wastewater, which could potentially con-
taminate drinking water sources. The project had originally called for abandoning existing failing
systems and constructing a community sewage treatment system. However, due to the archeologi-
cally sensitive and sacred land, and unfit soils surrounding the project area, the project team revis-
ited scope and decided individual home systems would work better. The CWISA funded $290,000
towards the repair and replacement of the failed systems with updated individual wastewater sys-
tems, and the installation of a control panel for the existing lift station. The project was completed
in August 2015 and the systems now serve 16 homes.
Mounded wastewater treatment system for
a Lac Vieux Desert Band home
Human Health and Environmental Benefits
Improved wastewater infrastructure protects and restores water quality, thereby reducing the risk of infectious disease morbidity and
mortality. The age-adjusted gastrointestinal disease death rate for American Indians and Alaska Natives is 4.3 times higher than that for
all other races in the United States2. Investment in wastewater services to supply safe waste disposal facilities has significantly reduced
gastrointestinal disease death rates among American Indian and Alaska Native communities2.
Case Study: Improving Wastewater Capacity in Marshall Alaskan Native Village
Marshall's community wastewater collection system consists of buried gravity arctic pipes serving a
population of over 400 people. The accumulated wastewater gravity flows to a lift station where the
effluent is pumped through a force main to the lagoon. The existing 2-cell percolating lagoon was
quickly reaching its capacity after the most recent project hooked up additional homes. Shrubs and
trees had overgrown and had begun to interrupt the functioning of the lagoon. The overloaded cells
were leaking through the existing berms into the surrounding terrain and the nearby creek, causing
risks to human health and the environment. To improve the holding capacity of the lagoon, the
CWISA-funded project replaced the force main from the lift station and raised the outer berms 3 feet
above design flood level. The construction of an additional holding cell increased the capacity of the
lagoon system by almost 50%. The project cleaned up and reworked the vegetation overgrowth on
the berms surrounding Cell 1 and Cell 2. It placed 170,000 square feet geosynthetic clay liners on all
interior slopes, which eliminated all seepage and leaks from the lagoon berms. The project included
installation of a manhole near the river with a buried pipeline from Cell 3 to allow for periodic
discharge to the river if needed. In addition, the project installed a fence around the entire lagoon
facility, improved drainage surrounding the facility, and installed three monitoring tubes to check
groundwater annually. The new improved and expanded lagoon will be able to handle almost 10
million gallons of wastewater every year, thus protecting water quality and reducing health risks.
For more information: http://www2.epa.gov/small-and-rural-wastewater-svstems/clean-water-indian-set-aside-program
Aerial view of the repaired and
upgraded wastewater lagoon system
for the 400 residents in Marshall,
Alaska
1. IMS (2012), Public Law 86-121 Annual Report for 2012, available at http://www.ihs.gov/dsfc/includes/themes/newihstheme/displav objects/
documents/reports/SFCAnnualReport2012.pdf
2. Stephen Gasteyer, Rahul T. Vaswani. Still Living Without the Basics in the 21st Century, 2004. Washington: Rural Community Assistance Partnership,
2003, available at http://www.rcap.org/stillwithoutbasics
3. 2010 U.S. Census Briefs, available online at http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-10.pdf
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