Last-minute help has arrived for a remote village that is down to its last drops of treated water.
Officials in cash-poor Kivalina had feared they would not be able to fill the water storage tanks anytime soon, saying they can afford to replace a corroded water-transport line only if they forgo ordering their next shipment of fuel.
But a representative of a regional health care nonprofit, Maniilaq Association, traveled Wednesday to the Inupiat Eskimo community of 400 to figure out how to help replace the line.
Kivalina imposed strict conservation measures after its pipeline was damaged by storms last year before the Inupiat community’s water tanks could be filled completely.
Residents are forced to take sponge baths and some are collecting rainwater and river water to make do.
