Imagine — in the United States — running out of water about two weeks into the month.
Like, out out. With little you can do about it.
That's the life of some Navajo residents on a reservation in northwest New Mexico. Enter: The Water Lady.
One of the residents, Darlene Arviso, is known as The Water Lady and carries water to many of them in large canisters once a month. As you can see in the clip below from "CBS Sunday Morning," it's like bringing life to them, and the people become like family to Darlene. She gets to see how they're doing, find out their latest news, and more.
So why, in a country like the United States, is water such an issue for the people here?
The answer to that question goes back almost 70 years, and it has to do with voting rights. Professor Dan McCool, a University of Utah political science professor, explains:
When cities and towns were set up across the country with water rights, plumbing, and similar projects in the works, the people on this reservation (and others) lost out because they didn't have the right to vote until 1948 in Arizona and New Mexico. So water was never planned for these communities.
Luckily there are the folks at Dig Deep, a non-profit organization that digs wells to bring water to people in developing countries. They're coordinating with local volunteers like Darlene to get water to these areas of the United States.
But consider that for a second: It took a nonprofit that usually works with developing countries to figure out what to do and have the drive to do it. In the United States of America.
They're committed to helping get water to these people, but it's going to take some effort to get there.
Right now, donations are key. After they drill the wells, there will be construction projects to add reserve water containers to houses and a lot more. Check out the following video to see how people live with little or no water: