Navajo Nation offers public education meetings on possible water settlement

By Gabriel Pietrorazio
Published: Wednesday, March 6, 2024 - 12:49pm

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Coverage of tribal natural resources is supported in part by Catena Foundation

A scenic overview of the Colorado River from the Navajo Bridge near Jacob Lake.
Gabriel Pietrorazio/KJZZ
A scenic overview of the Colorado River from the Navajo Bridge near Jacob Lake.

The Navajo Nation is planning to settle its water rights claims alongside the Hopi and San Juan Pauite tribes. President Buu Nygren’s administration has been organizing a series of educational meetings about this possible agreement.

Twelve public meetings are slated at Navajo chapter houses all around the sprawling reservation, from Leupp to Ganado and Fort Defiance to Many Farms, among several other Diné communities.

They began earlier this week and are scheduled through next Wednesday.

The Navajo Nation Water Rights Commission and Navajo Department of Justice’s Water Rights Unit are coordinating the meetings.

Elders, youth organizers, community members and leaders as well as relatives living in the Upper and Lower Basins of the Colorado River and Little Colorado River are encouraged to attend these gatherings.

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