WINDOW ROCK — Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren, along with Speaker of the 25th Navajo Nation Council Crystalyne Curley, Navajo Nation Council Delegates Andy Nez, and Shaandiin Parrish, met with U.S. Senator Kirsten Sinema Sept. 15 to discuss infrastructure priorities for the Navajo Nation.
Nygren outlined several infrastructure projects that are in dire need of funding, including improving water systems, Navajo Nation water rights settlements, and the Navajo Gallup Water Supply Project. He emphasized that infrastructure development is crucial for economic growth and improving living conditions across the Navajo Nation.
Roughly 170,000 Navajo people out of an estimated 400,000 total population, live on the reservation. Of that population who reside within the Navajo reservation boundaries, 30%, or 51,000 Navajo people, do not have running water.
Nygren gave time to Delegate Nez, who represents Crystal, New Mexico, Fort Defiance, Red Lake, New Mexico, and Sawmill, Arizona, to address what his constituents have been contending with regarding not having access to running water. Based on the 2010 U.S. Census, about 8,192 Navajo people live within the communities Nez represents.
“The terrain makes it very difficult for some of our families to access water. Some of these families have been without water (for generations),” Nez said.
Specifically, the agreement of delivering 6,411 feet per year through the Navajo Gallup Water Supply Project could expire in 2029 if a water settlement with Arizona is not reached.
Nygren said to Sinema that the Nation was requesting for the restrictions to the delivery of the water be removed through the Navajo Gallup Supply Project Amendments Act, sponsored by Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, which the President testified to Congress in Washington, D.C., in support of the bill.
“I am committed to settling our water rights in Arizona,” Nygren said. “We have a team working hard right now and we hope the state parties will join the talks very soon.”
Sinema said she lived without running water before, so she understood the hardships it brings.
“I’m acutely aware and experienced how difficult life is, and the difference when you do have running water,” she said.
Delegate Parrish, who represents Chilchinbeto, Dennehotso, and Kayenta, said not only was it important to get water to the Navajo people, but also to develop the Navajo Nation with it. None of the communities Parrish represents are benefitting from the Navajo Gallup Water Supply Project.
“That is key when we are talking about the uses of water,” Parrish said.
Sinema pledged to work with Nygren and advocate for Navajo Nation infrastructure projects as Congress considers a major infrastructure package. She said reliable and modern infrastructure is essential in both urban and rural areas like the Navajo Nation.
“It was important for me to hear directly from President Nygren about the infrastructure challenges facing the Navajo people,” Sinema said. “I will take the priorities we discussed back to Washington and fight to ensure federal infrastructure dollars reach tribal communities that have been left behind for too long.”
WINDOW ROCK — Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren, along with Speaker of the 25th Navajo Nation Council Crystalyne Curley, Navajo Nation Council Delegates Andy Nez, and Shaandiin Parrish, met with U.S. Senator Kirsten Sinema Sept. 15 to discuss infrastructure priorities for the Navajo Nation.
Nygren outlined several infrastructure projects that are in dire need of funding, including improving water systems, Navajo Nation water rights settlements, and the Navajo Gallup Water Supply Project. He emphasized that infrastructure development is crucial for economic growth and improving living conditions across the Navajo Nation.
Roughly 170,000 Navajo people out of an estimated 400,000 total population, live on the reservation. Of that population who reside within the Navajo reservation boundaries, 30%, or 51,000 Navajo people, do not have running water.
Nygren gave time to Delegate Nez, who represents Crystal, New Mexico, Fort Defiance, Red Lake, New Mexico, and Sawmill, Arizona, to address what his constituents have been contending with regarding not having access to running water. Based on the 2010 U.S. Census, about 8,192 Navajo people live within the communities Nez represents.
“The terrain makes it very difficult for some of our families to access water. Some of these families have been without water (for generations),” Nez said.
Specifically, the agreement of delivering 6,411 feet per year through the Navajo Gallup Water Supply Project could expire in 2029 if a water settlement with Arizona is not reached.
Nygren said to Sinema that the Nation was requesting for the restrictions to the delivery of the water be removed through the Navajo Gallup Supply Project Amendments Act, sponsored by Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, which the President testified to Congress in Washington, D.C., in support of the bill.
“I am committed to settling our water rights in Arizona,” Nygren said. “We have a team working hard right now and we hope the state parties will join the talks very soon.”
Sinema said she lived without running water before, so she understood the hardships it brings.
“I’m acutely aware and experienced how difficult life is, and the difference when you do have running water,” she said.
Delegate Parrish, who represents Chilchinbeto, Dennehotso, and Kayenta, said not only was it important to get water to the Navajo people, but also to develop the Navajo Nation with it. None of the communities Parrish represents are benefitting from the Navajo Gallup Water Supply Project.
“That is key when we are talking about the uses of water,” Parrish said.
Sinema pledged to work with Nygren and advocate for Navajo Nation infrastructure projects as Congress considers a major infrastructure package. She said reliable and modern infrastructure is essential in both urban and rural areas like the Navajo Nation.
“It was important for me to hear directly from President Nygren about the infrastructure challenges facing the Navajo people,” Sinema said. “I will take the priorities we discussed back to Washington and fight to ensure federal infrastructure dollars reach tribal communities that have been left behind for too long.”