Long-awaited bill to regulate Navajo Nation’s water rights in San Juan County, passed by Congress

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The legislation formalizes tribal water rights in southeastern Utah, offering $ 220 million to build water projects on the Utah Navajo Strip.

(Leah Hogsten | Tribune file photo) Two young boys fill the family’s water tank at the Oljato-Monument Valley water spout next to the post office on June 22, 2020. The well is one of the few locations in San Juan County where members of the Navajo Nation can get clean water. More than a third of Navajo Nation households have no running water, and the problem is even worse in San Juan County, where more than 40% of Navajo Nation residents have to fetch water. Families fill pitchers at communal wells or buy bottled water from shops – both expensive and time-consuming burdens that have only become more difficult during the pandemic and the tribe’s daily and weekend bells.

| December 22, 2020, 9.30 PM

| Updated: December 23, 2020, 3:12 a.m.

Shortly after COVID-19 was identified in the Navajo nation in March and the number of cases per capita exceeded all U.S. states, a common refrain emerged among health workers, tribe leaders, and members of Congress: It is time to finally issues with water availability on the Navajo Nation.
In June, the Senate unanimously passed the Utah Navajo Water Rights Settlement Act, a highly anticipated law to do just that for the Utah portion of the reservation. The legislation would recognize the Navajo Nation’s right to 81,500 acre feet of water from the Colorado River basin in Utah – enough to meet the annual needs of an estimated 160,000 typical American households. It would also settle the tribe’s current and future water rights claims, raising $ 220 million to build much-needed water projects in San Juan County.

Despite his two-pronged passage, outgoing President Donald Trump threw the entire funding and aid package into uncertainty on Tuesday night when he sharply criticized it as “wasteful and unnecessary.”

More than 40% of Navajo Nation homes in San Juan County – where tribal water rights have never been formalized – have no running water, and many residents have to fill containers at public faucets, a time-consuming and expensive process. Others rely on water supplies from nonprofits.

The bill, made more urgent by the pandemic, received support from two parties after nearly 18 years of negotiations. Every member of the Utah delegation to the House of Representatives, three Republicans and a Democrat, supported it, and the public seemed to support the premise too.

A June Climate Nexus poll, in collaboration with Yale and George Mason universities, found 84% support for allocating federal dollars to subsidize water projects for the 2 million Americans who currently have no running water, many of whom live in Indian reservations . And a study by the Indian Health Service found that every dollar the agency spends on home sanitation provides at least 20 times the health benefits.
But months passed and nothing happened. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, and Rep. Ben McAdams, D-Utah, released a joint press release in October urging the House to pass the bill. Jonathan Nez, the president of Navajo Nation, spoke at a water conference at Colorado Mesa University in November, and was concerned that if the legislation were not put to a vote in the House before the end of the year, it could continue to emerge in Congress as first introduced since then by then Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, in 2016.
On Monday, the legislation finally saw a new lease of life when it was incorporated into the massive Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, a $ 2.3 trillion spending bill that includes $ 900 billion in coronavirus control and a $ 1.4 trillion omnibus spending package. Legislation is now awaiting Trump’s signing.

“This is truly a historic milestone for the Navajo people and the state of Utah,” Nez said in a statement Monday. For years, Navajo leaders have been calling for the passage of the Navajo Utah Water Rights Settlement Act to provide clean water to our people living in the Utah portion of the Navajo nation. The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored our critical need for more clean water supplies to keep our people safe and healthy. “

Nez thanked the bill’s attorneys in Congress, including Romney, McAdams, and Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, as well as Utah Gov. Gary Herbert and Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox, the governor of the state.

(Courtesy of Navajo Tribal Utility Authority) More than 40% of Navajo Nation homes in Utah have no running water. Legislation passed by Congress on Monday would allocate $ 220 million for water projects on the Navajo Strip in Utah.

“The legislation passed today includes several measures that I have fought for that are important to Utah,” Romney said in a statement. “The Navajo nation, facing the highest COVID infection rates in the country, will finally have access to running water.”

“It has been a long time since the Navajo Water Rights Settlement was legally signed,” Curtis, who represents San Juan County, said in a statement. “This widely supported settlement will bring vital water infrastructure to the Utah portion of the Navajo nation and provide certainty about water rights in the region. I appreciate Senator Romney’s leadership in getting this important legislation across the finish line. “

The bill’s passage has also been praised by conservation groups, including Trout Unlimited.

Woody Lee, executive director of Utah Diné Bikéyah, called the passage of the legislation “one of the better moments in this unprecedented year of uncertainty.”

“Water heals all beings placed on Earth, according to Diné’s teachings,” he said. “This is a historic moment when the Diné people and the State of Utah have come together to recognize indigenous water rights. This human right to access to water has been a long time coming. The Utah Navajo Water Rights Settlement will now be a catalyst for the betterment of the health and wellbeing of indigenous peoples. “

Mark Maryboy, former San Juan County Commissioner and former member of the Navajo Nation Council, was involved in settlement negotiations for nearly 20 years. More recently, he was involved in a comprehensive needs assessment for San Juan County farmers that could help spend the resources, KUER said.

“I’ve been meeting with grassroots and water technicians for several years now and I know there is a great need for water,” said Maryboy. “Every family in the Utah portion of the reserve deserves clean, safe drinking water.”

While the $ 220 million awarded by the bill would provide a significant boost to construction of water projects, James Adakai, president of the Oljato Chapter and manager of the Navajo Nation Capital Projects Management Department, told The Salt Lake Tribune this summer that this is not would be the case. be enough to completely resolve what he called the “water crisis” on the Utah Navajo Strip.

“This is a big project, running the water pipes maybe 20 to 40 miles to very remote communities,” Adakai said. “The conduit to the house, the drains, the septic tanks, the plumbing inside, the cost of booster stations, water storage tanks, treatment plants – all construction costs, labor, materials and supplies – it’s right.”

Zak Podmore is one Report for America Corps member and writes about conflict and change in San Juan County for The Salt Lake Tribune. Your donation to match our RFA grant will help him keep writing stories like this; Consider making a tax-deductible donation today by clicking here.

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