Featured

Turning the tap in To’hajiilee: Long-awaited water pipeline construction underway to bring clean water

RIGHT: Ciara Chavez, 12, Sacorra Tenorio, 12, Hazel Mariano, 13, and Shaundrea Apachito, 12, students at To’hajiilee Community School, huddle together during the To’hajiilee water pipeline project groundbreaking ceremony on May 15. The $20 million, 7.5-mile pipeline will bring safe drinking water to the Navajo community of To’hajiilee.

Chancey Bush/Journal

Alaina Mencinger Alaina Mencinger Alaina Mencinger Staff Writer

Published May 15, 2024 - 5:36 p.m. Modified June 20, 2025 - 2:00 a.m.

The water fountains at To’hajiilee Community School aren’t usable. In the school’s kitchen, water is boiled before being used.

“Right now, it’s not drinkable,” said Sarah Lucero, a teacher at the school.

Five of the six wells in To’hajiilee, a part of the Navajo Nation located west of Albuquerque, are not functioning. Water from the remaining, often unreliable, well is frequently of poor quality and insufficient for the community’s needs.

Lucero is hauling water every day, she said, flexing her arms and laughing.

The community runs out of water every June and July, Lucero said, and it can take a week or more to restore access. But that may change as construction starts on a $20 million, 7.5-mile water pipeline that will connect Albuquerque and Bernalillo County’s water system to To’hajiilee’s system. Construction is expected to conclude in fall of 2025.

Lucero teaches the Diné language to middle schoolers at To’hajiilee Community School. She looked on with pride as six of her students performed on Wednesday, their dance marking the groundbreaking of a project that To’hajiilee residents say has taken decades to begin.

“We’ve grown old,” exclaimed Norman Begay, the Navajo Nation council delegate representing Alamo, Ramah and To’hajiilee, as he named some of the original proponents of the project at the groundbreaking.

Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said the pipeline could bring enough water to allow for additional economic development in the region.

The Navajo Nation will pay to lease water from the Jicarilla Apache Nation. Funding comes from the Navajo Nation as well as the New Mexico Finance Authority’s Water Trust Board, the New Mexico Indian Affairs Department and federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars appropriated by Bernalillo County.

Former County Commissioner Debbie O’Malley, who championed the project, said when she first heard about the water challenges in To’hajiilee, she knew “we’ve got a fight on our hands.” And it was, as challenges ensued as the community fought for easements from some landowners in the region.

“It’s shameful that it had to take so long,” O’Malley said. “I want to thank you for your persistence and your patience.”