Clients reached in 2025
Gallons of clean water delivered across the Navajo Nation
Chapters served across the Navajo Nation (AZ, NM, UT) & Hopi
NWP Project Assistant Tina chats with our 10,000th client, Ronald.
In 2025, DigDeep crossed a milestone: over 10,000 people now have clean, running water and sanitation at home. Client number 10,000 is Ronald on the Navajo Nation, who hauled water by barrel for years before our team arrived. "I'm just excited to have water in here," he told the NWP team. The first 10,000 are proof of what's possible and a promise to the families still waiting. We won’t stop until everyone has the water they need to thrive.
In April, staff, clients, and state officials gathered in Thoreau for a groundbreaking ceremony in celebration of a new regional hub for the Navajo Water Project. The facility is designed to bring centralized storage, community gathering space, and a wet lab for training under one roof. It's a long-term investment in the local, Navajo-led team doing this work, and one we'll build toward in the years ahead.
Shanna Yazzie, our Safety and Compliance Manager, was named one of the inaugural Hydro20 honorees for her leadership bringing running water to homes across the Navajo Nation. Like many Navajo families, Shanna grew up hauling water and using wash basins, and she brings that lived experience to the teams who install water systems in some of the most remote homes on the Nation.
Anne Brown has given to DigDeep every month since 2023. Living beside the Navajo Nation, Anne has seen firsthand what it means to live without running water. One day, she met two girls hauling water and learned their grandmother was about to receive running water through DigDeep. "For me, everything came full circle," Anne says. Monthly gifts like Anne's help create more moments like this, bringing clean running water to more families. Join Anne and become a monthly donor.
Clients reached in 2025
Gallons of water delivered during emergency flood response
Counties served across West Virginia & Kentucky
Pat, our client in West Virginia shares her journey to water access with our founder, George McGraw
In February, historic flash flooding devastated McDowell County, West Virginia, submerging entire communities and cutting off hundreds of families from safe water. DigDeep has called McDowell County home since 2019, and when the floods hit, our team mobilized immediately. Across nine communities, AWP worked alongside the local PSD to reconnect nearly 200 homes to main waterlines, deliver 800 gallons of drinking water, and transport 12 tons of sand and fill to protect exposed lines. When water systems fail, the people already living without reliable access are often hit hardest.
The community of Carbon Glow, Kentucky went seven years without safe water. DigDeep’s Kentucky team worked tirelessly to restore reliable water access to every home in the community in partnership with the local utility. Because running water isn't a luxury. It's a right.
Project Director Travis Foreman was featured when CBS News put a national spotlight on the Appalachia Water Project, reporting on why tens of thousands of West Virginia residents still rely on untreated water sources. Every major media moment like this shifts the national conversation and brings more people, partners, and resources to our mission.
Nalgene launched a limited-edition water bottle in support of the Appalachia Water Project, inspired by the region and communities our team serves every day. The partnership brings new visibility to the water access crisis and raises funds to help more families across Appalachia gain access to clean, running water at home. Get yours at nalgene.com.
Clients reached in 2025
Gallons of water distributed to Sand Branch
Counties served across Texas
Manuela, our client in the Texas colonias, explains to our team her feelings of disbelief when she heard water was finally coming to her community and gratitude to the people that made it possible. Read the English transcript
In a single spring day, the CWP team cut the ribbon in Cuadrilla and broke ground on Bills & Newman, both joint projects with the Lower Valley Water District. In Caudrilla, community members did the honors, turning on the fire hydrant to mark water service that families had fought decades to see. Behind these moments is quieter, essential progress: in 2025, mainline construction was completed across four colonias, the underground backbone that makes every future connection possible.
In October, the taps turned on in Tierra de Oro. Families who had waited years gathered with El Paso County officials and the CWP team. For residents like Mrs. Manuela, who raised her grandchildren in the home her late husband built, the moment carried the weight of a promise kept across generations. This is what progress looks like when communities lead and partners work together.
Some of our work doesn't end with a ribbon-cutting. It’s won mile by mile, meeting by meeting. In Sand Branch, in Dallas County, families have gone without piped water for generations. So while the long-term solution is built, CWP shows up weekly: delivering pallets of water alongside Wayside Baptist Church, hosting community meetings, and drafting a comprehensive plan to unlock funding and cut through the red tape these communities have faced for decades. This year, Sand Branch's story reached a national audience when the community was spotlighted through the Dallas Mavericks, proof that a small Texas community's fight for water belongs on a big stage.
Closing the water gap takes more than pipes, it takes people trained to build and sustain the work for years to come. In 2025, the University of Texas at El Paso recognized DigDeep's Colonias Water Project for its commitment to developing the next generation of water professionals, through a fellowship that connects students to hands-on experience in research and community engagement. It's an investment in the local talent, many from these very communities, who will carry water access forward.
