By Dr. Joe Shirley Jr.
President, Navajo Nation
On June 27, 2007, I testified before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in support of the Northwestern New Mexico Rural Water Projects Act, S. 1171. The House Resources Committee will hear testimony next week regarding the companion House bill, H.R. 1970.
The legislation will authorize the secretary of Interior to execute the settlement agreement between the Navajo Nation and the state of New Mexico regarding rights to water in the San Juan River Basin.
The legislation and the underlying settlement are examples of good public policy in the best interests of the Navajo Nation and New Mexico.
The state and the Navajo Nation spent years crafting a settlement that would protect existing uses of San Juan River water while ensuring that the Navajo Nation would receive a firm supply of water to sustain Navajoland as a permanent homeland for the Navajo People. Under this agreement, the Navajo Nation agreed to limit its water rights in exchange for the construction of much needed water infrastructure on Navajoland. The Navajo Nation appreciates the continued support of the New Mexico congressional delegation for this settlement.
S. 1171 and H.R. 1970 authorize the construction of the Northwestern New Mexico Water Supply Project. This project will provide a firm, sustainable supply of water for the Navajo Nation, the city of Gallup and the Jicarilla Apache Nation.
Many of the 80,000 Navajo men, women, and children in the project service area presently haul water for drinking and cooking. Although construction of the project will not necessarily eliminate all water hauling on Navajoland, this project will allow for the expansion of distribution systems to provide potable water delivery to more homes. It would supply water to economic growth corridors within the Navajo Nation where future communities can be built with ready access to roads, electricity and potable water.
The settlement is structured to ensure that the Navajo Nation's water rights fit within the water apportioned to New Mexico by interstate compacts. Moreover, because the bulk of the water for the Navajo settlement would come from water stored at Navajo Reservoir, downstream water diversions are protected.
Without a settlement, these diversions would be at substantial risk because of the water rights claims of the Navajo Nation. The city of Farmington, which has very junior rights, has already endorsed the Navajo settlement.
Albuquerque, Santa Fe and other cities rely on water from the San Juan-Chama Project to meet future municipal water needs. The settlement provides security for these uses by resolving the Navajo Nation's water rights claims with certainty without diminishing the supply of water available for San Juan-Chama diversions.
The Navajo Nation and the San Juan-Chama contractors, including Albuquerque, will share waters from Navajo Reservoir. The Bureau of Reclamation has determined that sufficient water will be available to satisfy all of the demands placed on the San Juan River water.
The Navajo Nation and the state have embarked on an ambitious undertaking to bring a sustainable supply of potable water to northwestern New Mexico as part of a water rights settlement that provides certainty, security, and protection for the water and the water uses within the San Juan River basin in New Mexico.
The settlement is good for all Navajos and New Mexicans who care about their water resources.
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