U.S. Water News Online
SANTA FE, N.M. -- The Navajo Nation would have the rights to more than half the available water in New Mexico's San Juan Basin if Congress agrees to pay for an $800 million settlement reached by tribal and state leaders.
Gov. Bill Richardson, Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley and other officials signed the settlement, the product of several years of negotiations over water rights in northwestern New Mexico.
"This agreement settles the Navajo Nation's water rights claims while at the same time benefiting non-Navajo water right owners,'' said State Engineer John D'Antonio, the state's top water official.
The proposed agreement must be approved by Congress and the secretary of the interior. But Republican Sen. Pete Domenici said it may need revision because of the high costs assumed by the federal government under the plan.
"The harsh truth is that legislation authorizing the Navajo settlement will be very difficult to fund given the huge budget deficit confronting the nation,'' he said in a statement.
Under the pact, the Navajo Nation will have rights to about 56 percent of the projected water in the basin that is available for use in New Mexico.
The settlement is expected to cost about $800 million over 10 to 15 years, with the federal government required to pay most of that, D'Antonio said. Much of the cost -- almost $590 million -- is to pay for construction of a water pipeline.
The negotiated settlement was preferable to costly litigation of water claims, Shirley said, but officials must now focus on persuading Congress to go along with terms of the settlement.
"Our work is not yet completed,'' he said.
The settlement outlines deadlines for congressional approval and execution of the agreement by the interior secretary by the end of 2006.
Domenici described the settlement as a step forward but said a final agreement may require further compromise by both sides.
Richardson did not like the sound of that: "We just signed an agreement,'' he said. "We don't want to talk compromise.''
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