Anchorage Daily News

In a debate during the 2008 election, then-candidate Barack Obama was asked what sacrifices he would ask of the American people to restore the American Dream. In response, Obama talked about "unfair burden share" and acknowledged that some Americans are in a better position to make sacrifices than others.

President Obama would do well to remember his answer. His proposed cuts to the Denali Commission and Village Safe Water will hurt communities with the fewest resources to weather this economic crisis.

Obama has cited management issues, but this is not a way to ensure accountability at the agency level. Cutting funds will only further delay vital infrastructure projects needed for the health and economic development of rural Alaska.

The Denali Commission and Village Safe Water contend with a unique physical environment of extreme cold, permafrost, and annual flooding. They often work in a cross-cultural environment where federal, state and community priorities differ. Their infrastructure projects are frequently underfunded, a problem compounded by the surging price of fuel.

If you asked someone in the Inupiaq village of Buckland what they thought of Village Safe Water or the Denali Commission, they'd probably say they can't wait for running water so that their kids stop getting sick.

They'd also likely say that it's taken too long.

In this beautiful village located along a river on the Seward Peninsula, residents contend daily with raw sewage and insufficient access to water. Instead of toilets, most households must use "honeybuckets": 5-gallon plastic buckets lined with trash bags. Though residents try to contain the waste, it's not unusual to see sewage leaking along the streets. The aging sewage lagoon annually overflows into the main street during breakup, exacerbating this problem.

Residents rely on the washeteria for all of their water needs, including showers, laundry and drinking water. Many residents haul water in 32-gallon buckets using four-wheelers and snowmachines.

Those who don't own a vehicle must carry their own water in 5-gallon jugs weighing 42 pounds. That weight combined with the high fuel cost means that few households have sufficient water for good health, especially during extreme cold when the washeteria is forced to close and vehicles won't start.

Single mothers, the disabled and elders without transportation often pay neighbors to deliver water -- $10 for 32 gallons. At that rate, a typical family of six would have to pay more than $740 per month to obtain the amount recommended by the World Health Organization to protect health.

No household in Buckland can achieve these standards without running water. As it is now, these vulnerable residents often have to choose between paying for water and paying their electric bills. This dilemma makes maintaining a healthy environment very difficult.

The City of Buckland has worked for more than a decade with various agencies, most recently Village Safe Water and the Denali Commission, to establish a piped water and sewer system. Buckland faced delays year after year while the soaring cost of fuel drove the project's price ever higher. They paid agencies for designs that were never used. They waited for promised funds to be released. Meanwhile, their kids keep getting sick.

As of May 2009, Buckland's piped water and sewer project has finally made progress. Village Safe Water recently completed the new sewage lagoon and is currently constructing the sewer system. This week they received stimulus money to continue work, but the project still falls short of the necessary funds for completion.

Residents wonder why it has taken so long. Many feel that they have already sacrificed, volunteering both for their community and for the nation.

"I want to know why our boys are fighting in Iraq and we still have to use honey buckets," a city councilman and Iraq War veteran said to me in January. An elder who served in Korea chimed in: "Right now in 2009, I have six honey buckets in front of my house. In 2009! My kids get sick every spring from it. It's not good for U.S. people like us."

Across rural Alaska, communities like Buckland have waited long enough for this small share of the American Dream.

Cultural anthropologist Laura Eichelberger is originally from Fairbanks and is a doctoral candidate in the University of Arizona Department of Anthropology. To learn more about community members' experiences living without water and the Buckland Water and Sewer Project, visit the Google Map: Buckland, Alaska: Water, Health, and Life in an Inupiaq Community: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=109208422421997905830.000460ca35293702413b8&t=h&z=4

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