Interior announces $43 million agreement for Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly today announced a $43 million financial assistance agreement for design and construction of a portion of the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project. The leaders broke ground in June on the historic project, which, when completed, will have the capacity to deliver clean running water to a potential future population of approximately 250,000. Today's milestone is one in a series of steps that are part of the larger Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project. Under the terms of today's agreement, the Navajo Nation will be responsible for the design, construction, and oversight of Reaches 24.1, 25, and 26 of the Cutter Lateral, which consists of approximately 43.4 miles of water pipeline, a pumping station, and four storage tanks. Construction will be located on the Navajo Reservation along the U.S. Highway 550 corridor south of Farmington, N.M. The project participants already have begun design and other pre-construction work, and water delivery to communities along the Cutter Lateral could occur as soon as 2015...more