Manataba Messenger

To: From: Colorado River Indian Tribes Manataba Messenger 26600 Mohave Road, Parker, AZ 85344 www.manatabamessenger@gmail.com M anataba Vol. 6 Issue 39 The Official Publication of the Colorado River Indian Tribes CRIT Nation, Parker, Arizona 85344 ,, ,, ,, AhaMakhav Newewe Sinom ` Dine M essenger FREE OF CHARGE Website: www.crit-nsn.gov Facebook: CRIT Manataba Messenger CRIT awarded four Bureau of Reclamation grants 2020-2023 modernization projects coming in the name of self-determination, sovereignty, water security, and public safety. COLORADO RIVER INDIAN RESERVATION-MMsgr. Staff- August 14, 2020 COVID 19 took over the world, but that didn't mean the tribes took a break. Some depart- ments, employees, and tribal council were all still working toward non-COVID related projects, infrastructure, and opportunities to further the tribes. The CRIT Water Resources department recently reported that they applied, received, and are spending four Bureau of Reclamation grants for water work on their Irrigation sys- tem, which serves 79,350 acres of land and was one of the first built in the United States. SCADA Water Management Modernization Grant The first grant awarded in October 2019 will be modernizing the water security system called SCADA, which stands for "Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition" this sensi- tive system uses modern technology to monitor vulnerable areas, security breaks, and system malfunctions, regardless of electrical power shut-offs, no communication avail- ability or control room attendants being present. Due to SCADA, there is practically no need for a physical workforce to check or patrol CRIT's extensive irrigation system. It prevents security hacking and revenue loss to the tribes through lost water. If there is a breach, it can automatically react, control, and isolate the project's section and alert offi- cials. The communications technology is not new, but the current SCADA system is 20 years old. ADVM Installation Grant The second grant awarded in January 2020 will be installing eight Acoustic Doppler Velocity meters; these meters will be monitoring the amount of water leaving the reser- vation. Acoustic Doppler Velocity Meters (ADVMs) are acoustic current (sound flow) meters that use the Doppler principle to measure water velocities in a two-dimensional plane. These drain water meters will be installed in various sites on the reservation. Arizonans Have Less Than Two Weeks Left To Register To Vote By Katherine Davis-Young Updated: Tuesday, September 22, 2020 - 5:48pm The presidential election is just six weeks away but there’s still time to reg- ister to vote in Arizona. Arizona has gained more than 500,000 registered voters since the last presidential election. The Democratic Party has seen the biggest gains in the state. As of August 2016, Democrats made up just under 30% of voters in the state. As of August 2020, the party now represents more than 32%. Republicans have maintained about a 35% share of Arizona voter registrations over the last four years. Speaking at a student voters’ virtual town hall event for National Voter Registration Day on Tuesday, Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs said 53,000 Arizonans have regis- tered to vote just in the past month. There is clearly a lot of momentum going into the election and a lot of excitement for peo- ple to get involved, and a lot of them for the first time," Hobbs said. Arizona’s deadline to register to vote in the upcoming election is Oct. 5. The last day to request a mail ballot is Oct. 23. Important Dates: Oct. 5, 2020- Last day to register to vote. Oct. 7, 2020- In-person early voting begins. Early ballots mailed out. Oct. 23, 2020-Last day to request mail-in ballot. Oct. 30, 2020- In-person early voting ends. Nov. 3, 2020- Election Day. THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS 'Enormous And Tragic': U.S. Has Lost More Than 200,000 People To COVID-19 September 22, 202011:39 AM ET BILL CHAPPELL The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 surpassed 200,000 on Tuesday — reaching what was once the upper limit of some estimates for the pandemic's impact on Americans. Some experts now warn that the toll could nearly double again by the end of 2020. COVID-19 is now one of the leading causes of death in the U.S., which has reported more than 6.8 million coronavirus cases – more than any other country, according to data col- lected by Johns Hopkins University. More than 31 million cases have been reported worldwide, including more than 965,000 deaths. Potential vaccines are currently being tested, but even if a successful candidate emerges, it would likely take months or even years for it to become widely available. Many of the U.S. COVID-19 deaths likely would have been prevented by widespread use of face masks, social distancing and other measures, said Bob Bednarczyk, assistant pro- fessor of global health and epidemiology at Emory University in Atlanta. "Seeing this number of COVID-19-related deaths is concerning because it shows we real- ly have not done enough to control this pandemic, and we are experiencing a tremendous amount of unnecessary suffering," Bednarczyk said. The disease was only given a formal name in February; one month later, COVID-19 was declared a pandemic — the first caused by a coronavirus. Since then, it has ravaged fam- ilies and communities and wrecked economic dreams in the U.S. and around the world. Rivers said that if mortality trends continue, "COVID-19 will likely be the third-leading cause of death, after heart disease and cancer" in the United States. "For comparison, by the end of the year we will likely have seen more deaths from COVID-19 than we saw from diabetes, influenza and pneumonia, kidney disease and sui- cide combined in 2017," she said. The disease already exceeds the number of U.S. deaths from accidents and unintentional injuries, Bednarczyk said. Death toll has far exceeded early predictions The U.S. death toll is the highest in the world, by a large measure. Despite having less than 5% of the global population, the U.S. has suffered more than 20% of COVID-19 deaths worldwide. In late March, Dr. Anthony Fauci, America's leading expert on infectious diseases, esti- mated that around 100,000 to 200,000 people in the U.S. might die as a result of the virus. Then, in early April, he predicted the toll could be far lower: 60,000 people. Fauci cautioned that his more optimistic estimate was based on the American public adhering to physical separation and other restrictions in March and April — measures that, for a while at least, sharply reduced U.S. death toll projections. But weeks after Fauci spoke, Georgia, Texas and some other states began relaxing their control measures. "In late May, we were seeing around 1,000 to 1,400 deaths per day, but cases and deaths were declining and I was hopeful that things would continue to improve," Rivers said. " CONTINUED PAGE 2