Congress passed long-awaited law to liquidate the Navajo Nation’s water rights in San Juan County

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The legislation formalizes tribal water rights in southeastern Utah and provides $ 220 million to build water projects in the Utah Navajo strip.

(Leah Hogsten | Photo from Tribune’s file) Two young people fill the family’s water tank in Oljato-Monument Valley water, next to the post office, on June 22, 2020. Water well is one of the few places in San Juan County where members of the Navajo nation can get clean water. More than a third of the Navajo nation’s households lack running water and the problem is even worse in San Juan County, where more than 40% of the Navajo nation’s residents have to carry water. Families fill jugs at communal wells or buy bottled water in stores – loads as expensive as they are time-consuming and only made harder during the pandemic and the tribe’s daily and weekend curfews .

| December 22, 2020, 9:30 p.m.

| Updated: December 23, 2020 at 3:12 p.m.

Shortly after COVID-19 was identified in the Navajo nation in March and the per capita case rate exceeded all U.S. states, a common saying emerged among health workers, tribal leaders, and members of Congress: It’s time to finally address the water availability issues Navajo Nation.
In June, the Senate unanimously passed the Utah Navajo Water Rights Settlement Act, a long-awaited piece of legislation aimed at doing just that for the Utah Reservation portion. The legislation would recognize the Navajo nation’s right to 81,500 acres of water from the Colorado River basin in Utah, enough to meet the annual needs of about 160,000 typical American households. It would also settle current and future water rights claims for the tribe and provide $ 220 million to build much-needed water projects in San Juan County.

Despite his bipartisan move, outgoing President Donald Trump left the uncertainty of all funding and aid packages Tuesday night when he harshly criticized him as “wasteful and unnecessary.”

More than 40% of homes in the Navajo nation in San Juan County, where tribal water rights have never been formalized, have no running water and many residents have to fill containers on public taps, a process which is time consuming and costly. Others rely on water supply from nonprofits.

The bill, which became more urgent due to the pandemic, gained the support of the bipartisan after nearly 18 years of negotiation. All members of the Utah delegation to the House of Representatives, three Republicans and one Democrat, sponsored him and the public also appeared as an advocate of his premise.

A June Climate Nexus survey, in collaboration with Yale and George Mason universities, found 84% support for the allocation of federal dollars to subsidize water projects to the 2 million Americans who currently they have no running water, many of whom live on Native American reserves. And a study by the Indian Health Service found that every dollar the agency spends on home sanitation facilities achieves at least a twenty-fold return in health benefits.
But the months passed and nothing happened. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, and Rep. Ben McAdams, D-Utah, issued a joint press release in October urging the House to approve the bill. Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez spoke at a conference on water at the University of Colorado Mesa in November and was concerned that if the legislation did not pass a vote in the House before the end of the year, it could continue to be founded in Congress as it has since. first introduced by then Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, 2016.
On Monday, however, the legislation finally saw its life renewed when it was included in the massive Consolidated Loans Act of 2021, a $ 2.3 trillion spending bill that includes $ 900 billion in coronavirus relief and a $ 1.4 trillion bus spending package. Now the legislation awaits Trump’s signing.

“This is truly a historic milestone for the Navajos and the state of Utah,” Nez said in a statement Monday. “For years, Navajo leaders have championed the passage of the Utah Navajo Water Rights Settlement Act to provide clean water to our people residing in the part of the Navajo nation in Utah. The COVID-Pandemic 19 has marked our critical need for cleaner water resources to keep our people safe and healthy. ”

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

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

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

“It’s been a long time since the Navajo Water Rights Convention could become law,” Curtis, who represents San Juan County, said in a statement. “This agreement with broad support will bring vital water infrastructure to the part of the Navajo nation in Utah and bring certainty to water rights in the region. I appreciate Senator Romney’s leadership in helping bring this important legislation to fruition. at the finish line “.

Conservation groups also praised the passage of the bill, including Trout Unlimited.

Woody Lee, executive director of Utah Diné Bikéyah, described the passage of the legislation as “one of the brightest moments of this year of unprecedented uncertainty.”

“Water is healing for all beings placed on earth, according to Diné’s teachings,” he said. “This is a historic moment in which the people of Diné and the state of Utah have come together to recognize Indigenous water rights. This human right of access to water has become long. Utah’s Navajo Water Rights Act will now be a catalyst for improving the health and well-being of Indigenous peoples. “

Former San Juan County Commissioner and former Navajo Nation Council member Mark Maryboy has been involved in agreement negotiations for nearly two decades. More recently, he has been involved in an extensive needs assessment for San Juan County farmers that could help guide the way funds are spent, according to KUER.

“I’ve been meeting with grassroots people and water technicians for several years and I know there’s a lot of need for water,” Maryboy said. “All families on the Utah Reserve deserve to have clean, safe drinking water.”

While the $ 220 million allocated by the bill would provide a significant boost to the construction of water projects, James Adakai, chairman of the Oljato Chapter and manager of the Navajo Nation Capital’s Project Management Department, told The Salt Lake Tribune this summer may not be enough to fully resolve what it called the “water crisis” in the Utah Navajo strip.

“This is a big project, which runs water lines maybe 20 to 40 miles to very remote communities,” Adakai said. “Drive the line to the home, the drainage fields, the septic tanks, the interior plumbing work, the cost of the reinforcement stations, the water storage tanks, the treatment plants (all the costs of construction, labor, materials and supplies) sum “.

Zak Podmore is a Report for America member of the body and writes about conflicts and changes in San Juan County for The Salt Lake Tribune. Your donation that matches our RFA grant helps you continue to write stories like this; Please consider making a tax deductible gift of any amount today by clicking here.

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