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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Navajo Nation Water Rights Seulement- San Juan River Basin, New Mexico <br /> <br />On July 9'\ the State of New Mexico and the Navajo Nation distributed a draft of the <br />Navajo Nation Water Rights Settlement for the San Juan River Basin in New Mexico. The <br />proposed settlement would resolve the claims of the Navajo Nation to the use of the waters of the <br />San Juan River Basin in New Mexico. The settlement is intended to provide water rights and <br />associated water development projects for the benefit of the Navajo Tribe in exchange for release <br />of claims to water that may potentially affect non-Indian water uses in the San Juan River Basin <br />in New Mexico. The proposed water rights settlement includes three documents, including the <br />following: (1) Partial Final Decree for the San Juan River Basin Adjudication; (2) a proposed <br />Water Rights Settlement Act for Congress to authorize Reclamation to construct the Navajo- <br />Gallup Water Supply Project and complete other Navajo water development projects in the San <br />Juan River Basin; and (3) a Settlement Contract to provide for water deliveries to the Navajo <br />Nation, including the Navajo lndian Irrigation Project, Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project, and <br />the Animas-La Plata Project. <br /> <br />The proposed water rights settlement would result in the following diversion and <br />depletion amounts annually for the Navajo Nation: <br /> <br />Diversion <br />Depletion <br /> <br />606,060 acre-feet per year <br />325,370 acre-feet per year. <br /> <br />\ <br />Under the proposed settlement agreement, the Navajo Nation would administer its rights. <br />on Navajo lands in New Mexico. Any potential transfers of water uses by the Navajo Nation to \ <br />locations off of Navajo lands would require the approval of the New Mexico State Engineer'j <br />Office. <br /> <br />Currently, it is anticipated that approval of the proposed Settlement Agreement coul <br />occur as early as August 2004, and that a Water Rights Settlement Act could be introduced to <br />Congress as early as September 2004. Finally, after the passage of the Act, a Joint Hydrographic <br />Survey would be conducted by the United States and the State of New Mexico to identify the <br />rights of the Navajo Nation to historic and existing irrigation, recreation, and livestock uses on <br />Navajo lands in areas tributary to the San Juan River and the water rights acquired by the Navajo <br />Nation under state law. <br /> <br />Information on the Drought <br /> <br />I have included several recent news media articles related to the drought conditions <br />which continue to persist not only in the Colorado River Basin, but throughout much of the <br />Rocky Mountain west. Additionally, I have included a recent academic article prepared by <br />researchers at niversity of Nevada Las Vegas and Scri " California. The <br />article endeavors to c aracterize the nature 0 e current drought compared to the 'Storical <br />record. According to the research, this drou ht 1999-2004 har' ed as the seventh ,\. <br />worst drou "IiCiI t e Cisco and Green ver ga in ver the past ears. The <br />researc ers point out that the magnitude of this drought is amplified by population growth, <br />decreasing water supply, and increasing demand in the Southwestern United States. <br /> <br />4 <br />