After nearly two decades of negotiations, the Utah Navajo Water Rights Settlement Act will utilize hundreds of millions of dollars to provide water infrastructure to the tribe.
On Friday, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, Gov. Spencer Cox and Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez met to sign the monumental settlement in San Juan County. They were also accompanied by Sen. Mitt Romney and Navajo Nation Vice President Myron Lizer, among other state and tribe officials.
The act "recognizes 81,500 acre-feet of water from sources within Utah’s apportionment of the Colorado River, and directs the federal government to spend at least $220 million for water infrastructure, with an additional $8 million coming from the state of Utah," Kyle Dunphey writes.
“It’s not the finish line," said Nez. "It’s actually the start — the start of getting water infrastructure into our Navajo communities in the state of Utah.”
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