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Hopi Tribe Loses Another Legal Fight In Push For Clean Drinking Water

The Hopi Tribe has lost another legal battle in its push to have the United States cover the costs of bringing safe drinking water to the reservation. That ruling came down from a Federal Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday.

The dispute surrounds the quality of the drinking water on the reservation, much of which is groundwater. According to the tribe, the water system that serves five of its communities contains unsafe levels of arsenic.

Tribal officials said because the U.S. funded and provided technical assistance for the construction of those wells, the federal government should pay to bring in a newer safer source of water. The tribe argued that not providing an adequate supply of drinking water is a breach of trust duties.

In 2013 the Court of Federal Claims dismissed that complaint saying the tribe did not prove the U.S. has a fiduciary obligation to provide safe drinking water to the reservation. This week, a Federal Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that decision.

Carrie Jung was a senior field correspondent from 2014 to 2018.