Little Colorado River Pump Hydro Project Appears To Have Stalled

By Ron Dungan
Published: Tuesday, June 29, 2021 - 12:55pm
Updated: Tuesday, June 29, 2021 - 6:29pm
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A project to generate electricity in the Little Colorado River Basin may have stalled. 

Conservation groups were concerned when a Phoenix-based company proposed building dams on the Navajo Nation to generate electricity. Their concerns grew last year, when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a preliminary permit for feasibility studies. But the company has missed deadlines that would move the project forward. 

“Well we think that FERC should not have given the project the preliminary permit in the first place," said Gary Wockner, a spokesman for the nonprofit Save the Colorado. "And if this one dies we’ll be happy to see it die.”

The company has also failed to receive approval for the project from the Navajo Nation, which would be a critical step in the process.