Navajo-Gallup Water Supply 

Project Newsletter 

4th Quarter, July 2023

Reclamation celebrates major milestone for the Navajo-Gallup 

Water Supply Project and Reclamation's 120th birthday

On June 9, the NGWSP celebrated the acquisition of the San Juan Generating Station water conveyance 

system which was purchased from the Public Service Company of New Mexico for $8 million. The 

acquisition of the water conveyance system included a reservoir which was renamed the Frank Chee 

Willetto Reservoir during the ceremony.

(L-R) City of Gallup Mayor Louis Bonaguidi, PNM President 

and Chief Operating Officer Don Tarry, Navajo OPVP 

Executive Administrator Arvin Trujillo, NGWSP Program 

Manager Bart Deming, Congresswoman Teresa Leger 

Fernández, State Engineer Mike Hamman, Commissioner 

Camille Calimlim Touton, Honorable Delegate Rickie Nez, 

and Navajo Nation Water Rights Commissioner Dr. Lani 

Tsinnajinnie 

Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton and 

New Mexico Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernandez 

joined Navajo Nation, State, and local leaders at an event 

celebrating the acquisition of the water system and the 

continued progress and collaboration on the NGWSP.

“Water is crucial for the health, safety and empowerment 

of Tribal communities. This is especially important within 

the Navajo Nation, as many residents are finally receiving 

water that has long been promised to them,” said Bureau 

of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton. 

“This acquisition continues the commitment and progress 

that the Interior Department and Reclamation have made 

towards the fulfillment of our trust responsibilities to the 

Navajo Nation and Jicarilla Apache Nation through the 

Navajo Nation Water Rights Settlement.”

“The acquisition of the Reservoir and Water Conveyance 

System is a major milestone, which will be a tremendous 

asset for the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project,” said 

Reclamation Four Corners Construction Office, Construction Engineer & Manager Bart Deming. “Its 

incorporation represents a significant cost savings to the project while also increasing operational 

flexibility and reducing operational risk by providing off-river storage, allowing increased drought 

resistance to support a sustainable water delivery system. The storage in this reservoir gives us the ability 

to shut down the river intake and continue water deliveries in the event of another Gold King Mine Spill, 

until river water quality improves.”

During the ceremony, Reclamation and Navajo Nation leadership 

unveiled a new name for the former San Juan Generating Station 

Reservoir. The reservoir is now named after Frank Chee Willetto, a 

member of the Navajo Nation who proudly served as a Navajo 

Code Talker during World War II and was recognized with a 

Congressional Silver Medal in 2001. Willetto was born in 

Crownpoint, New Mexico, of the "Bit'ahnii (Folded Arms Clan), born 

for Tódích'íi'nii (Bitter Water Clan). His maternal great grandfather 

was Ta'neeszahnii (Tangle Clan) and his paternal family was Naakai 

dine'é (Mexican People Clan). Willetto also served on the Navajo 

Nation Council from 1974 to 1986 and held various other positions, 

including Navajo Nation Vice President from August 1998 to 

January 1999. Willetto remained active in his Tribal community and 

attended the signing of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act 

of 2009, which authorized the NGWSP, of which he was a huge 

proponent. He died in his home in Pueblo Pintado, New Mexico, on June 23, 2012, at the age of 87.

“He always said that helping his community receive clean drinking water and have community members 

finally receive running water was one of the proudest moments of his life," said Willetto’s daughter, 

Marcella Willetto. 

In honor of Frank Chee Willetto

If you would like to learn more, visit or website at:

https://www.usbr.gov/uc/progact/navajo-gallup/.
Reclamation’s Cutter Lateral Water Treatment Plant Project 

wins national award 

Representatives from the Bureau of Reclamation, 

Navajo Nation, and design-build contractor, Jacobs, 

were presented with the Best of the Best award in the 

Water/Environment category at the 2023 Engineering 

News Record Awards of Excellence ceremony in New 

York City on April 13. The national ENR award was for 

the design and construction of the Navajo-Gallup 

Water Supply Project’s Cutter Lateral Water Treatment 

Plant.

“We are honored to win this award, which is helping 

shine a national spotlight on the lack of drinking water 

availability on the Navajo Nation,” said Reclamation 

Construction Engineer Bart Deming. 

“With the commissioning of the water treatment plant, 

the Navajo Nation has received the long-awaited 

benefits of a long-term supply of potable water into 

eight eastern Navajo Chapter’s public water systems, 

including Carson Huerfano, Dzilth-Na-O-Dith-Hle, 

Nageezi, Counselor, Ojo Encino, Torreon, and 

Whitehorse Lake/Pueblo Pintado,” said Navajo Nation 

Department of Water Resources Director Jason John. 

Reclamation is using the same design-build process to construct the second NGWSP plant, the San 

Juan Lateral Water Treatment Plant, with a contract award planned for spring 2024.

Pictured from Left: Ryan Gladden, Reclamation Deputy 

Construction Engineer, Barbara Crockett, Jacobs Vice President/

New Mexico Client Account Manager, Bart Deming, 

Reclamation Construction Engineer, Wayne Pullan, Regional 

Director for Reclamation’s Upper Colorado Basin Region, Ted 

Michaelidis, Jacobs Design-Build Manager

What happens to Fish When Diverting 

Water from the San Juan River 

By Chico Quintana, Civil Engineer and Eric Creeden, Southern Lands & Group Chief

Protecting and minimizing threats to fish, especially endangered 

species like the native Colorado pikeminnow and razorback sucker 

found in the San Juan River, is an important part of Reclamation’s 

mission and a priority for the NGWSP. The routing of fish into water 

diversion facilities like canals and the trapping of fish on infrastructure 

like trash racks, are common threats to fish in the western U.S. 

Reclamation plans to make fish friendly upgrades to existing 

infrastructure as part of a recent acquisition of the Public Service 

Company of New Mexico’s water conveyance system associated with 

the San Juan Generating Station. Colorado pikeminnow (Endangered San 

Juan River Fish)

Reclamation plans to reconstruct the pumping 

station and install a new fish barrier weir into the 

diversion and intake, similar to a previously installed 

weir at the Hogback Diversion. This will allow for a 

few inches of water to flow over the crest of the weir 

while the remaining water flows through the 

diversion and back to the river. Reclamation 

coordinated the weir design with the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service and the upgrades further the San 

Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation 

Program’s endangered fish recovery efforts. 

Improvements will be made over the next five years.

Razorback sucker (Endangered San Juan River Fish)

If you would like to learn more, visit or website at:

https://www.usbr.gov/uc/progact/navajo-gallup/.