The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust has announced a three-year, $20 million grant to Engineering Ministries International (EMI) in support of efforts to improve water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) in rural Alaska.

The grant will support sustainable and affordable water and sewer services at the state, regional, community, and household level in partnership with the Norton Sound Health Corporation and the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. Efforts will include installing and improving remote monitoring equipment in a hundred and thirty-nine communities to improve the operation and maintenance of water and sewer utilities; establishing a regional utility assistance program to benefit fifteen communities in the Bering Strait region; and construction of community and household water and sewer projects.

According to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, about thirty-three hundred rural homes are estimated to lack access to safe water and basic sanitation. In remote areas of Alaska, unique system design and installation are required to contend with permafrost and keep water from freezing at 50 degrees below zero — which can come at a high cost and create challenges for continual operation and maintenance.

"Sustainability and affordability are some of the greatest challenges for WASH community development in any context," said Jason Chandler, EMI's WASH program manager. "Appropriate design and technology are critical to success, but even the simplest solutions will ultimately fail if they are not addressing a felt need in the community and cannot be maintained long-term, which is why we are so pleased to have local support and enthusiasm for this effort."

"At Helmsley, we are committed to supporting holistic solutions that build health and resilience at the community level, and a safe, reliable water supply is at the heart of this," said Helmsley Charitable Trust board member Walter Panzirer. "In 2021, nobody in the United States should have to live without running water in their homes, especially amidst a pandemic."

(Photo credit: Norton Sound Health Corporation)