WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — In the early hours of Dec. 21, the U.S. Senate voted 85 in favor and 11 opposed to pass the American Relief Act, a stopgap funding bill, to avert a federal government shutdown. The bill, which provides short-term funding for the federal government through March 14, also includes a one-year extension and increase in funding for the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project.
The ARA includes a crucial one-year extension for the NGWSP, as well as an increase in appropriations from $870 million to $1.6 billion.
“We are grateful to Congress and President Biden for securing additional funding for the NGSWP, a key initiative that has brought water access to many Navajo people,” Speaker Crystalyne Curley said. “The additional funding and the one-year extension ensures that many more families will soon have running water in their homes.”
Curley also thanked past Navajo leaders who secured the NGWSP years ago through a comprehensive water rights settlement in New Mexico, as well as U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández and others for securing the additional funding.
The NGWSP was first authorized in 2009 by President Barack Obama, as part of the Navajo Nation San Juan River Basin Water Rights Settlement between the Navajo Nation, New Mexico, and the U.S.
This funding boost is vital to keeping the NGWSP on track, which is central to efforts to combat water scarcity in the Navajo Nation, where many families still lack reliable access to clean, safe water.
In October 2023, the Navajo Nation Council unanimously passed a legislation, sponsored by Council Delegate Danny Simpson, supporting the extension and additional funding for the project.
Since then, Curley and members of the 25th Navajo Nation Council, along with Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren, have met with congressional members on numerous occasions to advocate for the project.
