Designing a sustainable water storage system for livestock in Bodaway Gap using contextual engineering principles and community engagement

Access to water remains a persistent challenge across the Navajo Nation, where environmental, infrastructural, and institutional constraints have long limited the sustainability of development efforts. This thesis applies Contextual Engineering framework that integrates technical design with sociocultural, political, and environmental realities to address water scarcity in Bodaway Gap, Arizona. Although the entire project originated under the assumption that household drinking water represented the community's most urgent need, engagement with residents revealed that livestock water access was the primary concern. Guided by Witmer's 3-4-5 methodology, the study combines hydrological analysis with iterative stakeholder dialogue to develop a water storage solution that is technically feasible, culturally grounded, and locally governed. Using the Predictive Tool, contextual influences were weighted, revealing that cultural and political legitimacy held greater significance than other social factors. Fieldwork conducted across 2024–2025—including interviews, site surveys, co-design sessions, and hydrological assessments—indicated a high-loss regime, where evaporation and infiltration exceed precipitation during extreme hot weather conditions. This finding prompted a design strategy centered on in-pond catchment and solar-powered transfer to covered steel tanks, reflecting a risk-based approach to design under uncertainty. While extreme hot-dry periods produce a negative water balance, historical precipitation records show sufficient rainfall events in the rainy season to justify storage infrastructure, provided losses are minimized through rapid transfer and cover. The fieldwork culminated in the identification of three candidate ponds for implementing a water storage system, with the White Horse reservoir (R-32) selected as the pilot site. More importantly, the process demonstrated that sustainability arises not merely from technical optimization but from aligning engineering decisions with community-defined values and governance structures. This work contributes to both engineering practice and community development by documenting a full-cycle application of contextual engineering—from problem reframing to design proposal—in an Indigenous setting. The findings underscore that durable solutions in water-scarce regions depend on engineers' capacity to listen, adapt, and co-create with the people they serve.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Agricultural & Biological Engr

Grantor

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2025

Author dc:creator

• Echeverria Ortiz, Xiomara Nicole

Contributors dc:contributor

• Witmer, Ann-Perry
• Bhattarai, Rabin
• Dill, Brian

• Water
• Navajo Nation
• Design
• engineering
• contextual engineering
• solar panels
• community
• Bodaway Gap
• stakeholders

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2025 Xiomara Ortiz

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132562

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/132562