Navajo Gallup Water Supply Project 

Newsletter

If you would like to learn more about the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project, you can visit our 

website at https://www.usbr.gov/uc/rm/navajo/nav-gallup/. 

2nd Quarter, January 2019

Pre-Construction Blessing Ceremony 

Held for Water Treatment Plant 

By Pat Page and Paul Denetclaw - Four Corners Construction Office

On October 22, 2018, representatives from the Navajo Nation, the State of New 

Mexico, the State of New Mexico’s Congressional delegation, local Navajo chapter 

officials, and the Bureau of Reclamation and their contractors, met near the Navajo 

community of Dzilth-Na-O-Dith-Hle, south of Bloomfield NM. The purpose of 

the gathering was to witness and participate in a traditional Navajo prayer and 

blessing ceremony to mark the beginning of construction of the Cutter Lateral 

Water Treatment Plant, a key feature of the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project. 

The ceremony was performed by Hataalii (medicine man) Mr. Richard Anderson, a 

United States Marine Corps veteran of the Vietnam War.

The event began 

with the presentation 

of colors by 

the Huerfano 

Chapter Veterans 

Organization Color 

Guard, followed by 

self-introductions

from all the 

estimated 80 guests 

in attendance. The 

traditional ceremony 

began with Mr. 

Anderson praying for 

water for the project 

and that the project 

would be completed 

without delay so that the Dine people could benefit by having access to clean 

drinking water. Lastly, he prayed that families would be well taken care of and have 

a long life in complete harmony with the universe.

The event would not have been possible without the help and support of many. The 

overall coordinator and master of ceremonies was Bert Sandoval, Navajo Nation 

Water Rights Commissioner, long-time advocate of the Project, and friend of 

Reclamation. Employees from Reclamation’s Four Corners Construction Office 

performed site preparation, parking coordination, food preparation (Twyla Begay’s 

awesome mutton stew!) and service. Souder Miller & Associates provided food and 

beverages. 

The significance of the ceremony and the milestone in which the ceremony was 

centered around was not lost on those in attendance. The Cutter Lateral Water 

Treatment Plant, when completed in 2020, will be a state-of-the-art facility that will 

provide a clean, reliable water supply to the eastern Navajo Reservation and the 

southwestern corner of the Jicarilla Apache Reservation. The contractor, Jacobs 

Engineering, started construction a few weeks after the ceremony.

Participants of the Blessing Ceremony listen as Hataalii, Richard Anderson 

explains the prayers he used and their significance. Bureau of Reclamation 

photo by Clint Stone 

Photo courtesy Jon Austria/The Daily Times 

Faces of NGWSP 

Ya’at’teeh, my name is Johnny 

Johnson, Bit’ahnii nishlii, 

To’baazhn’azhi baa’shishchin,

To’bahnii’azhii Dashicheii,

Dzitl’aahni dashin. I am from 

Tse’ii’ahi (Standing Rock).

I serve as the Tse’ii’ahi (Standing 

Rock) Chapter President. I am 

in my nineteenth year as the 

chapter president. One of the 

many projects that I have lead my 

chapter to accomplish is to fund 

and conduct a feasibility study to 

connect 55 homes to the upcoming 

Navajo Gallup Water Supply 

Project waterline. This study will 

lead to families who currently haul 

water for basic needs to having a 

fully functioning home. The State 

of New Mexico, Indian Health 

Service/OEH, Navajo Tribal Utility 

Authority and the Navajo Nation 

are working together to make this 

project a success.

NGWSP is important because it 

directly affects the various projects 

we are working to complete for 

the families in my community, as 

well as, surrounding communities 

in Eastern Navajo Agency. It 

also provides an opportunity for 

economic development.
Navajo Gallup Water Supply Project 

Newsletter

If you would like to learn more about the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project, you can visit our 

website at https://www.usbr.gov/uc/rm/navajo/nav-gallup/. 

2nd Quarter, January 2019

How to stay informed on the 

Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project By Pat Page, P.E.

Reclamation started this quarterly newsletter to provide 

timely information on the status of the project and to help 

answer questions about the project, but there are other means 

of staying up to date on what’s happening on the project. 

First and foremost, there are meetings – plenty of meetings – 

that are open to the public. The Navajo Nation Department 

of Water Resources, along with local Navajo Chapters, hold 

regular meetings to give updates on the progress of the 

project, get input from community members, and provide 

information on funding opportunities.

The Beacon Bisti/ Navajo Route 9 (BBN9) Cutter Lateral 

Group covers the area served by the Cutter Lateral as well as 

the chapters served by the Crownpoint Lateral (10.1, 10.2, and 

10.3).

The 491 Chapters Group covers the area served by the San 

Juan Lateral.

The NGWSP Project Construction Committee meetings are 

held quarterly to provide updates to Project Participants, 

cooperating agencies, and interested individuals. In addition, 

Reclamation and Navajo Nation representatives participate in 

fairs and conferences throughout the year to provide updates 

and information on the project.

Want more information? Visit the NGWSP website at https:// 

www.usbr.gov/uc/rm/navajo/nav-gallup/ or call Reclamation 

at (505) 324-5027, or the Navajo Nation DWR at (928) 729-

4004.

12 

Feb 491 Chapters 

Group will meet 

Tuesday, Feb 12 

at 10 a.m. in the 

Sheep Springs 

Chapter House 

20 

March 

21 

Feb Project 

Construction 

Committee will 

meet Thursday 

Feb 21 at 10 a.m. 

at the El Morro 

Theatre in Gallup 

19-21 

June 

BBN9 Cutter 

Group will meet 

Wednesday March 

20 at 10 a.m. in the 

Becenti Chapter 

House 

Navajo DNR 

Summit will be 

June 19 to 21 at the 

Twin Arrows Resort 

Spotlight – Cultural Resources Compliance 

By Ernie Rheaume 

On a construction project the size of the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project, the protection of cultural resources becomes a

top priority. Reclamation archaeologists, project managers, and design engineers have been working with the Navajo Nation

Heritage & Historic Preservation Department to address effects to archaeological and sacred sites important to the Navajo

Nation. When working on Navajo Nation lands, Reclamation is following the provisions set forth in the Navajo Nation Cultural

Resource Protection Act. This requires a full archaeological and ethnographic inventory of the project area. Since 2013,

Reclamation has fielded teams of archaeologists and ethnographers to identify prehistoric and historic sites along the proposed

waterline, as well as interview individuals living in the project area to document traditional cultural properties.

The surveys have identified multitudes of archaeological sites and traditional cultural

properties in the project area. In consultation with NNHHPD, Reclamation has proposed

realigning portions of the pipeline to avoid major effects to important sites. When

avoidance is not possible, NNHHPD and Reclamation have devised minimally intrusive

testing and data recovery plans for sites within the project right-of-way. The cultural

information being obtained through the archaeological and ethnographic surveys of the

project will provide information on the prehistoric and historic use of the landscape by

the Navajo people. NNHHPD’s work to protect these resources will allow the important

water project to completed, while ensuring that the Navajo cultural history is preserved for generations to come.

While Reclamation’s work with NNHHPD on Navajo Nation land and resources is highlighted here, Reclamation also consults

with twenty-three other tribes and agencies on cultural resources located in the project area. The cultural resources work and

tribal consultations will continue throughout the construction of the project allowing Reclamation and the Navajo Nation to

build for the future while protecting the past.