Navajo Nation Water Rights Settlement
The State of New Mexico and the Navajo Nation on April 19, 2005, signed a water rights settlement that would resolve the claims of the Navajo Nation for the use of waters of the San Juan River Basin in northwestern New Mexico.
The settlement agreement is intended to adjudicate the Navajo Nation’s water rights and provide associated water development projects for the benefit of the Navajo Nation in exchange for a release of claims to water that could potentially displace existing non-Navajo water users in the basin and seriously impact the local economy.
The settlement agreement would establish the water rights of the Navajo Nation in the San Juan Basin in New Mexico. It would draw to a close more than 20 years of efforts to adjudicate the Navajo Nation’s water right owners, it would protect existing uses of water, it would allow for future growth, and it would do so within the amount of water apportioned to New Mexico by the Colorado River Compacts.
From Left: New Mexico State Engineer John D’Antonio, New Mexico Attorney General
Patricia Madrid, New Mexico State Governor Bill Richardson, and Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley
Documents pertaining to the proposed settlement agreement are as follows:
San Juan Basin/Navajo Nation Water Rights Settlement Agreement
State of New Mexico/United States Cost Share Agreement for the Navajo Nation Water Rights Settlement