Summary:

 House Bill 569 (HB 569) appropriates ten million dollars ($10,000,000) for the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project Regional Water Line Beacon-Bisti-N9, Cutter Lateral
371/Interstate 40 Project. 

 

Legislation Overview:

 House Bill 569 (HB 569) appropriates ten million dollars ($10,000,000) from the General Fund (GF) to the Department of Environment for expenditure for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 through FY 2028 to plan, design and construct the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project Regional Water Line Beacon-Bisti-N9, Cutter Lateral 371/Interstate 40 Project. This water supply is critical to the community and is a multi-phased regional project that will serve the following twelve Navajo chapters: Coyote Canyon, Tse'ii'ahi', Nahodishgish, Crownpoint, Becenti, Lake Valley, White Rock, Little Water, Casamero Lake, Smith Lake, Baca/Prewitt and Thoreau.. 
Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY 2028 reverts to the GF.

 

Current Law:

 Gallup and Navajo Nation communities draw their water from aquifers that are being rapidly depleted. Water levels in the aquifers near Gallup have dropped as much as 200 feet within the last ten years and at least forty percent of Navajo Nation households haul water to meet daily needs. 
The Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project will ensure a reliable supply of water for municipal, industrial and domestic needs of approximately one quarter million residents and is the cornerstone of the Navajo Nation’s Water Rights Settlement Agreement in the San Juan River Basin in New Mexico. The Bureau of Reclamation operates this federal project, whose conception dates back to the 1960’s and finally came to fruition in 2009 with the enactment of Public Law 111-11. The $1 billion project will divert over 37,000 acre-feet of water annually from the San Juan River and Cutter Reservoir; treat it to meet drinking water quality standards; and deliver it to Gallup, forty-three Navajo chapters and the Teepee Junction area of the Jicarilla Apache Nation through 260 miles of pipelines and twenty-four pumping stations.
Parts of the project have been completed, including the Carson/Huerfano public water system, which started to deliver potable water from the Cutter Lateral Water Treatment Plant on October 27, 2020.
https://www.usbr.gov/uc/progact/navajo-gallup/index.html
https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/7461ca68b2da4620863ff27d65b8cf14/page/Navajo-Gallup-Water-Supply-Project/
https://www.gallupnm.gov/365/Navajo-Gallup-Water-Supply-Project
 

Amendments:

 2/27/25
The House Agriculture, Acequias and Water Resources Committee amended HB 569 (HB 569A HAAWC) by correcting the names of the projects in the title and throughout the bill. The correct names are the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project Beacon-Bisti-N9, Lateral and 371 Regional Water Project.  HB 569A HAAWC directs the appropriation to the Department of Indian Affairs instead of the Department of the Environment.