Vital Navajo-Gallup water project extended to 2029

• Deadline pushed to December 31, 2029, to complete the project.
• Delay caused by integrating San Juan Generating Station facilities.
• Project will provide clean water to Navajo communities and Gallup, NM.
• Settlement parties reached agreement to ensure project completion.

November 11, 2024 — In a significant development for communities in the Navajo Nation and Gallup, New Mexico, the completion deadline for the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project has been extended to December 31, 2029. The U.S. Department of the Interior, the Navajo Nation, and the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission—the key parties to the Navajo Nation’s Water Rights Settlement on the San Juan River Basin—have agreed to this extension to accommodate delays and ensure the project’s success.

Integrating New Facilities.

The extension results from delays caused by the acquisition and incorporation of the San Juan Generating Station’s water conveyance and storage facilities into the project. In the fall of 2019, design and construction activities on affected features of the project’s San Juan Lateral were paused to investigate this integration. The Navajo Nation and the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission concurred with the decision, acknowledging that an extension would be necessary.

Benefits Outweigh Delays.

“The impact of the delays to the project as a result of the investigation process, acquisition, and incorporation of the San Juan Generating Station Reservoir and Water Conveyance System are substantially offset by the significant short-term and long-term cost savings to the project, as well as the increased operational flexibility and reduction in operational risk these facilities will provide,” said Bart Deming, Construction Engineer/Manager at Reclamation’s Four Corners Construction Office. “We appreciate the collaboration of the settlement parties, as well as the city of Gallup and the Jicarilla Apache Nation, to extend the completion deadlines of these three vital projects so we can ensure safe, reliable, and affordable drinking water for the future of this project and Navajo and Gallup communities.”

Precedent for Extension.

There is precedent for such deadline extensions. In 2019, the completion deadlines for the Fruitland-Cambridge and Hogback-Cudei Irrigation Projects were extended to December 31, 2024, through a similar agreement among the signatory parties.

Why the Project is Important.

The Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project is a major infrastructure endeavor designed to provide a long-term sustainable water supply to Navajo communities, the southwestern portion of the Jicarilla Apache Nation, and the city of Gallup. Once completed, it will deliver approximately 37,764 acre-feet of water annually from the San Juan River Basin via about 300 miles of pipeline, 19 pumping plants, and two water treatment plants.

These areas rely on a rapidly depleting groundwater supply of poor quality and inadequate to meet current and future demands. Groundwater levels for the city of Gallup have dropped approximately 200 feet over the past 10 years, and over 40 percent of Navajo Nation households rely on hauling water to meet their daily needs.

Progress and Future Outlook.

The Cutter Lateral portion of the project was completed in 2021 and has been delivering clean and reliable drinking water to over 6,200 people in eight Navajo chapters and the Jicarilla Apache Nation. The San Juan Lateral is now 70% complete, with initial water deliveries expected to begin in late 2028 to Navajo communities in western New Mexico, the Window Rock area in Arizona, and the city of Gallup.

While the proposed Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project Amendments Act of 2023 (S. 1898 and H.R. 3977) would also extend the project’s completion deadline to December 31, 2029, the settlement parties proceeded with the letter agreement to ensure continued implementation beyond 2024, fulfilling the United States’ obligations under the settlement.

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Image of a construction site on a Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project segment via the Bureau of Reclamation.

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