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• Board Meeting Date: 1/27/2004
• Description: WSP Section - Navajo Nation Federal Reserved Water Right Settlement with the State of New Mexico
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

diversion. Also, the Bureau of Reclamation would have to comply with the National Environmental .
Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act and other applicable laws in implementing the Project. If to
comply with the Endangered Species Act it is deemed necessary to arrange for some amount of use
in the San Juan River Basin to be forborne for some period of time to allow full use under the Project
to be made, the Project contractors would not be prohibited from making such arrangements as may
be appropriate.

In addition, the Navajo Nation would retain a small amount of rights it has acquired under state law,

rights to further diversions of groundwater that is non-tributary to the San Juan River, and additional

rights to de minimus indoor residential domestic uses that are not served by public water supply systems.

In addition, the Navajo Nation would have 869 acre-feet of storage capacity space in Ridges Basin

Reservoir allocated by contract for its exclusive use under the Animas-La Plata Project. In all instances,

the rights of the Navajo Nation to divert and use water from the San Juan River Basin in New Mexico

would be limited to the amounts of water necessary for current beneficial uses.

Individual members of the Navajo Nation that have been allotted land by the United States are

not bound by the Settlement Agreement and may have additional claims to historic and existing .

agriculture, stock and domestic uses in the San Juan River Basin. The aggregate amount of the historic

and existing uses is included in estimated current depletions in the Basin. However, any reserved rights

that may be adjudicated to such members for additional future uses would be serviced by, or offset by

corresponding reductions in use under, the rights of the Navajo Nation in order to keep the water

demands in the Basin from exceeding New Mexico's apportionment under the Upper Colorado River

Basin Compact.

For Congress to approve the Settlement Contract, the Secretary of the Interior will need to make

a determination that sufficient water is reasonably likely to be available to New Mexico for the Navajo

Nation's uses in New Mexico under the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project and for existing and

authorized Navajo and non-Navajo uses from the San Juan River Basin in New Mexico under the

apportionment made by the Upper Colorado River Basin Compact. The New Mexico Interstate Stream

.

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