Cortez Native Builds Off-Grid Water Systems for Navajo Nation Schools

Durango —Justice Ramos, 29, founded the nonprofit Fundamental Needs in 2020 to address critical gaps in clean drinking water and electricity for underserved communities, specifically targeting the Navajo Nation.

Ramos grew up in Cortez and spent his childhood on the Navajo reservation in Rock Point, Arizona, known as Tsé Nitsaa Deezʼáhí in Diné. His grandparents were teachers there, and his mother’s roots in the area shaped his path. After graduating from the University of Colorado and initially planning to join the Peace Corps, the pandemic shifted his focus toward direct aid for Navajo citizens.

During the lockdowns, Fundamental Needs delivered water, food boxes, firewood, clothing, and personal protective equipment. These supplies remain scarce for many residents today. Approximately 30% to 40% of households on the Navajo Nation lack access to running water, and between 10,050 and 13,000 households lack electricity on the 17.5-million-acre reservation that spans Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.

Ramos expanded the organization’s reach to include children in Rock Point, Cortez, and Kirtland, New Mexico. Kirtland sits just outside the reservation along the San Juan River. According to a Bureau of Labor Statistics study from November 2023, the unemployment rate for American Indians and Alaskan Natives was 8.2% in 2021, compared to 5.3% for the United States overall. For American Indian and Alaska Native people aged 16 to 24 living in tribal areas, the unemployment rate was 17.2%, compared to 11% for U.S. youth overall.

“We wanted to build towards something more long term, so we started building off-grid water systems,” Ramos said.

Fundamental Needs partnered with DigDeep, an organization dedicated to ensuring everyone has access to water, and installed their first three systems in 2021. In 2022, Ramos launched a high school program at Rock Point Community School to replicate this work.

The project now operates school-based programs in both Rock Point and Kirtland. Indigenous students build and donate these off-grid systems to needy households located within an hour and a half of their schools. The program trains and hires local high school students to construct and install the systems themselves, creating a pathway toward future careers in plumbing and electrical or solar installation. To date, more than 240 systems have been installed, according to Ramos.

The initiative addresses systemic barriers by combining community-led approaches with practical solutions. Students study topics that complement their hands-on work, preparing them for vocational opportunities while addressing immediate infrastructure needs. The program aims to empower individuals and families through these combined efforts, fostering lasting change in communities that have historically faced disparities in access to basic utilities.

Ramos noted that the unemployment statistics highlight the urgency of creating career pathways for young Native people. By integrating education with tangible infrastructure projects, Fundamental Needs is turning basic utility access into a sustainable economic engine for the region. The work continues to expand, with more systems being built and installed as student participation grows in both New Mexico and Colorado.

The scent of fresh pine mixes with the dust of the high desert road as you drive past Kirtland, where the sound of drills and saws echoes from the schoolyard. Inside those walls, young hands are tightening pipes that will carry clean water to homes for decades, a quiet testament to the steady rhythm of progress in this corner of the Southwest.