Water rights for the Navajo Nation have been a source of environmental conflict for decades, as Navajo lands have provided energy and water for residents of neighboring states while many of the Navajo do not have electricity or running water in their homes. Beginning in the 1960s, coal mining by Peabody coal at Black Mesa withdrew more than 3 million gallons of water/day from the Navajo aquifer, reducing the number of springs on the reservation. The Navajo Generating Station also consumed about 11 billion gallons of water per year to provide power for the Central Arizona Project that pumps water from Lake Havasu into Arizona.
Native American tribes along the Colorado River were left out of the 1922 Colorado River Compact that divided water among the states, forcing tribes to negotiate settlements with the states for water. The Navajo negotiated water settlements with New Mexico and Utah in 2009 and 2020 respectively, but had not reached an agreement with Arizona in 2023.
On June 22, 2023, the US Supreme Court ruled in Arizona v. Navajo Nation that the federal government of the United States has no obligation to ensure that the Navajo Nation has access to water. The court ruled that the 1868 treaty establishing the Navajo Reservation reserved necessary water to accomplish the purpose of the Navajo Reservation but did not require the United States to take affirmative steps to secure water for the Tribe.[1]
Additionally, environmental crises, such as the 2015 Gold King Mine waste water spill have had lasting impact on the Nation's access to clean water.[2]
^Liptak, Adam (2023-06-22). "Supreme Court Rules Against Navajo Nation in Water Rights Case". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-06-24.
^"Navajo Crops Drying Out as San Juan River Remains Closed After Toxic Spill". indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com. Retrieved 2016-05-07.
and 24 Related for: Navajo water rights information
Waterrights for the Navajo Nation have been a source of environmental conflict for decades, as Navajo lands have provided energy and water for residents...
Peabody Energy and the company's depletion of the Navajo aquifer, which threatened Navajowaterrights. In 1964, Peabody Energy (then Peabody Western Coal)...
The Navajo Nation (Navajo: Naabeehó Bináhásdzo), also known as Navajoland, is a Native American reservation of Navajo people in the United States. It...
Navajo are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members as of 2021[update], the Navajo Nation...
radiation in the Navajo language left the miners unaware of the associated health hazards. The cultural significance of water for the Navajo people and the...
Navajo Generating Station was a 2.25-gigawatt (2,250 MW), coal-fired power plant located on the Navajo Nation, near Page, Arizona, United States. This...
for San Juan County, Utah, and a former Navajo Nation Council Delegate for the Utah Navajo Section of the Navajo Tribe. He is the brother of Kenneth Maryboy...
1868; in this case, the Navajo peoples' rights to San Juan River water. This ruling eventually led to development of the Navajo Dam project, which was...
of Navajo lands by the US Federal Government. It was put in place in 1966 in order to promote negotiations over a land dispute between the Navajo and...
the Navajo, also called the Long Walk to Bosque Redondo (Spanish: larga caminata del navajo), was the deportation and ethnic cleansing of the Navajo people...
The Return of Navajo Boy (released in 2000) is a documentary film produced by Jeff Spitz and Bennie Klain about the Cly family, Navajo who live on their...
transports water under the continental divide from Navajo Lake to Lake Heron on the Rio Chama and on to the Rio Grande. In the past much of this water was resold...
The Navajo Nation Council (Navajo: Béésh bąąh dah siʼání) is the Legislative Branch of the Navajo Nation government. The council meets four times per...
north-central New Mexico. The Navajo continue to seek expansion of their waterrights because of difficulties with the water supply on their reservation;...
about witchcraft. Indigenous communities such as the Cherokee, Hopi, the Navajo among others, included in their folklore and beliefs malevolent figures...
American federal government's Navajo Relocation Program. Roberta Blackgoat was born on October 15, 1917, into the Navajo (or Diné) tribe and spent the...
The Colorado River Indian Tribes (Mojave language 'Aha Havasuu, Navajo language: Tó Ntsʼósíkooh Bibąąhgi Bitsįʼ Yishtłizhii Bináhásdzo) is a federally...
Nation Human Rights Commission. Denetdale is also an advocate for students who wish to pursue an education in Indigenous studies, Navajo women, and the...
Navajo National Monument is a National Monument located within the northwest portion of the Navajo Nation territory in northern Arizona, which was established...
negotiations difficult. At the same time, Hopi and Navajo tribes were squabbling over land rights while Navajo livestock continuously grazed on Hopi land. Boyden...
and Navajo protests, the Forest Service regional supervisor in 1980 approved the paving of an access road into the ski area. The Hopi and Navajo filed...
Enei Begaye, of the Diné (Navajo) & Tohono O'odham nations, is an activist and advocate for indigenous peoples rights and the environment. Enei is an...
relating to the definition of "waters of the United States" under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act June 8, 2016: Vetoed H.J.Res. 88, joint resolution...
Arizona v. Navajo Nation (2023) that the U.S. government has no obligation under the Treaty of Bosque Redondo to supply water to the Navajo. Apache Chiricahua...
Global Information