Water Rights Guaranteed Under Latest Settlement Agreement
On July 17, 2024, I joined Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren, Navajo Nation Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley, Hopi Tribe Vice Chairman Craig Andrews, and San Juan Southern Paiute President Robbin Preston Jr. for a ceremonial signing of the recently approved Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement Agreement (NAIWRSA or Agreement). Representing two other parties to the Agreement at Heard Museum’s Steele Auditorium in Phoenix were Central Arizona Water Conservation District Board President Terry Goddard and Salt River Project’s Patrick Sigl. In all, there are 39 entities who are parties to this Agreement.
This historic Agreement was a long time in the making. Since the mid-1990s, the Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe and parties to the Little Colorado River Adjudication, including Flagstaff, have attempted to settle water rights disputes through settlement. When settlement talks were not possible, the parties were actively litigating the water rights claims of the Hopi Tribe and Navajo Nation. Litigation had been ongoing since the 1970s—both expensive and resulting only in “paper” water rights for the Tribes.
After months of ligation with the Navajo Nation in 2023, the parties turned to settlement and completed the settlement on May 9, 2024. This version of NAIWRSA confirms certain water rights for the Nation, Hopi, San Juan Southern Paiute, and also protects the existing water rights and uses of non-Indian parties, including Flagstaff. Additionally, the San Juan Southern Paiute will finally have its own reservation and it also provides funding for Tribal water supply projects.
The Agreement was unanimously approved by the Hopi Tribe on May 20, 2024, and the Navajo Nation and the San Juan Southern Paiute each unanimously approved the Agreement on May 23, 2024. Flagstaff City Council unanimously approved the Agreement on July 2, 2024.
The next step in this process is the passage of H.R. 8940, sponsored by Rep. Juan Ciscomani and co-sponsored by Representatives Eli Crane, Ruben Gallego, Raul Grijalva, David Schweikert, and Greg Stanton.
From my July 23, 2024 written testimony to the House Committee on Natural Resources:
“If approved by Congress, H.R. 8940 will provide funding for long-overdue water supply projects for the Navajo Nation, the Hopi Tribe, and the San Juan Southern Paiute. Flagstaff knows all too well that access to potable water in the region is very costly because of distance, bedrock and depth to water, and naturally occurring poor water quality. Federal funding for water supply projects is fundamental to ensuring the stability of our Tribal communities and the region. Hauling water is not a viable option for anyone, and inadequate infrastructure among our Tribal partners must change for the better. Flagstaff supports H.R. 8940 because it will not only end litigation, it will also ensure the success of the needed water supply projects identified by our Tribal partners for their respective reservations.”
Significantly, the Agreement recognizes the City’s Regional Water Supply Project and existing wells at Red Gap Ranch. Flagstaff purchased Red Gap Ranch in 2004 with the aim to secure a longer-term water future after drought triggered a city-wide water emergency the previous year. The Regional Water Supply Project would provide redundancy to the southwestern Navajo Nation and Flagstaff’s water supplies, further mitigating the risk of drought, wildfire, and watershed degradation of Flagstaff’s water resources. The regional nature of the project would afford long-term water security for the greater Flagstaff area in the decades to come. This Agreement recognizes Flagstaff’s existing wells, however, the Project is currently unfunded and remains years away.
This article originally appeared in the August edition of the Flagstaff Business News.
