WSP10769

• File Number: 8220.105
• Description: Colorado River-Water Projects-Navajo
• State: CO
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Water Division: 5
• Date: 7/1/2001
• Author: BOR
• Title: Revised Draft Environmental Assessment for the Jicarilla Apache Nation Water Subcontract-aka USBR/PNM Water Contract Renewal and Extension
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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. Develop effective public participation strategies that overcome linguistic, cultural, institutional,
geographic and other barriers.

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. Assure meaningful community representation in the process.

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. Seek tribai representation consistent with the government-to-government relatIOnshIp between the uS
and tribal governments.

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6.6.1 Significance Criteria

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Significance criteria include actions that create disproportionately high and adverse human and
environmental effects on minority populations, such as if an action reduced available water supplies for
low income, minority and/or tribal populations.

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A "minority population" exists where either a) the population of minorities in an affected area exceeds
(community) 50 %; or b) minority population percentage of the affected area is meaningfully (J.5 times)
greater than the minority population percentage in the general population surrounding area (for example,
the county) (CEQ 1997). This is determined by multiplying the percentage of minorities in the
surrounding area by 1.5. If the resulting figure exceeds the total percentage of the minority population in
the community, the communiry is not a minority population for the purposes of environmental justice
assessments.

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6.6.2 Impacts of the Proposed Action

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Data pertaining to minority populations and Indian tribes utilized for this analysis were taken from a
Bureau of Land Management draft document (BLM 2000). Within the area of effect for this project.
there are two minority Hispanic populations (Bloomfield. New Mexico and Mancos, Colorado) however.
neither of those two populations is affected by the operations ofSJGS and neither is competing for use of
the SJGS depletions.

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Two low income Indian/tribal populations are identified as being within the area of effect of this water
subcontract: the Jicarilla Apache Nation located in Dulce, New Mexico and the Navajo Nation located in
northwestern New Mexico along the US-666 corridor and around Gallup and northeastern Arizona in the
vicinity of Window Rock.

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The town of Dulce on the Jicarilla Apache Reservation is in need of a new water supply system. The
proposed project at Dulce will rely on a historic depletion from the Navajo River which is within the
baseline usage for the San Juan River Basin and does not conflict with the depletion and water usage
proposed in this new water subcontract at SJGS.

The Navajo population described above is in need of additional water. The City of Gallup and the Navajo
Nation in concert with USBR have proposed a water supply system (Navajo-Gallup Water Supply
System) that will provide approximately 37,000 AF per year of water to those areas from a diversion
source on the San Juan River. Currently, depletions for this quantity of water are not included in the
baseline depletion for the SJRRJP: however, USBR is working with the Navajo Nation and the City of
Gallup to identify adequate sources of water for the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project and other
development projects in the San Juan River Basin.

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