A Native American tribe that is one of the largest outstanding water rights holders in the Colorado River Basin is close to reaching a settlement with more than a dozen parties that would provide piped water to tens of thousands of tribal members in Arizona. It’s impossible to live without it.
The terms of the negotiations outlined Wednesday night include water rights not only for the Navajo Nation but also for those of the neighboring Hopi and San Juan Southern Paiute tribes in the northeastern corner of the state. Water will come from a variety of sources: the Colorado River, which serves seven western states, the Little Colorado River, and aquifers and washouts on tribal lands.
The agreement, decades in the making, will allow the tribe to avoid further costly litigation and court proceedings. Navajo officials said they expect to finalize terms in the coming days.
After that, it must be approved by tribal governing bodies, the state of Arizona, other political parties and Congress.
“We have the right Congress, we have the right president, and there’s hope,” Navajo President Boo Nygren told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “Because next year could be a completely different ball game. It’s going to be Very uncertain.”
The proposal comes as Native American tribes, Colorado River Basin states and Mexico work on a long-term plan to share dwindling water sources that already serve 40 million people. Tribes, including the Navajo Nation, were excluded from a landmark 1922 treaty that divided the basin’s waters among seven states.
The Navajo Nation has long argued that states treat the tribe as an afterthought. Any solution reached will be independent and independent of this long-term plan.
About one-third of homes on the Navajo Nation do not have running water. Infrastructure projects outlined by the Navajo Nation include a $1.7 billion pipeline to carry water from Lake Powell to tribal communities. It’s important to note that there is no guarantee Congress will provide the funding.
Both the Navajo and Hopi tribes are seeking the ability to lease water and store it in existing or new reservoirs and impoundments.
“We still have families living in these communities who still need to fetch water to cook, make lemonade for the kids in the summer, make ice, all those simple little things that make your daily life easier and more convenient,” Nag said. said Crystalyne Curley, speaker of the Wajo Nation Assembly.
On Wednesday, the Navajo Nation cited climate change, costs, competition for water and the coronavirus pandemic as reasons to push for solutions. In turn, Arizona would benefit by determining the amount of water available to non-tribal users. In recent years, the state has had to reduce its use of Colorado River water due to drought and demand.
Tom Bucharczyk, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, said Wednesday that while reconciliation with the Navajo Nation is progressing, the agreement is not yet complete.
Sarah Langley, a spokesperson for Flagstaff, the largest city that is a party to the settlement, said she hopes the talks will be productive.
Arizona is located in the lower Colorado River basin, bordering California, Nevada, and Mexico, and is unique in that it is also found in the upper basin. Under the terms of the settlement, the Navajo and Hopi nations will receive approximately 47,000 acre-feet of land in the Upper Basin, nearly all of the land set aside for the Navajo Generating Station, which is located on the Navajo Reservation and opened in 2017. Closed year. Late 2019.
The proposal also includes providing the two tribes with approximately 9,500 acre-feet of low-priority water per year from the lower watershed. One acre-foot of water is approximately enough to supply two to three American homes per year.
While specific provisions for the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe are still being discussed, Congress may be asked to establish a small reservation for the tribe whose ancestral lands are in Utah and Arizona. The tribe’s chairman, Robin Preston Jr., did not immediately respond to emailed questions from The Associated Press.
Fred Lomayesva, the Hopi Tribe’s general counsel, declined to comment.
The Navajo Nation, whose 27,000 square miles (70,000 square kilometers) reservation also extends into New Mexico and Utah, has settled claims to the Colorado River Basin.
In 2012, the Navajo and Hopi tribes came close to reaching an agreement with Arizona over water rights. Both tribes rejected the ensuing federal legislation, and the tentative agreement failed. The plan also did not have widespread support among the Navajo and Hopi people, who believed the negotiations were secret, leading to the recall of then-Navajo President Ben Shelly and then-Hopi President Leroy Hingoit Watt’s actions were loose.
Recently, the Navajo Nation Water Rights Commission has been holding public hearings across the reservation to ensure tribal members understand what the solution involves and why the tribe is seeking one, tribal officials said.
“Our chapters, our schools, even our small businesses, families have a united front. It’s inclusive of everyone. Everyone should be able to know what these terms are,” Curley said.
The federal government has invested heavily in tribal water rights solutions in recent years. The U.S. Supreme Court also ruled that the government has no treaty obligation to take aggressive steps to secure water for the Navajo Nation, complicating the tribe’s fight for water.
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