Navajo–Gallup Water Supply 

Project Newsletter

If you would like to learn more visit our website at 

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

3rd Quarter, April 2021

Faces of NGWSP

Ya’at’eeh - my name is Tamara Billie. 

My clans are Tsenahabiłlnii (Sleeping 

Rock People), born for Kinyaa’aanii 

(Towering House People), my maternal 

grandparents are Ashiihi (Salt People), 

and my paternal grandparents are 

Taneeszahnii (Tangle People). I come 

from a small community called Twin 

Lakes, New Mexico. 

For the past 23 years I have worked 

for the Navajo Nation’s Heritage and 

Historic Preservation Department, 

Cultural Resource Compliance 

Section in Window Rock, Arizona. 

In my current position as a Senior 

Archaeologist, I oversee the Tribe’s 

Cultural Resource Compliance and 

Permitting Section. I perform cultural 

resources management activities at 

all levels on Navajo Nation lands in 

compliance with federal and tribal 

laws and policies. Under Section 106 

of the National Historic Preservation 

Act, the NNHHPD closely consults 

with the Bureau of Reclamation on the 

Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project, 

which may affect cultural resources 

(archaeological sites, traditional 

cultural properties, burials, ceremonial 

areas, etc.) on Navajo Nation lands. 

My goal is to help preserve and 

manage the Navajo people’s cultural 

heritage, while providing clean safe 

drinking water to many Navajo 

communities. 

Reclamation Employees Continue Working During 

Pandemic

By Hilda Castillo Smith, Civil Engineer, Bureau of Reclamation

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in March of 2020, the Bureau of 

Reclamation, along with most other federal agencies, implemented a maximum 

telework policy. As a result of these 

precautions, most employees are 

working from home, but what happens 

when you have a construction project 

that is essential for the Navajo Nation 

and the State of New Mexico?

Fortunately, under public health orders 

issued by Navajo Nation President 

Jonathan Nez and New Mexico 

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham 

public works and water infrastructure 

projects, like the Navajo-Gallup Water 

Supply Project, are considered essential 

businesses, allowing construction of 

this vital project to continue. During 

construction, many of the Four 

Corners Construction Office employees 

continue to work remotely. Their commitment to the project and construction 

support to the field employees ensures the success of the NGWSP. 

Every morning, 25 field employees, whose responsibility is to oversee and assure the 

quality of construction, gear up to perform their jobs without hesitation. They do 

this to guarantee that this important drinking water project continues. Now more 

than ever, water is crucial to the Navajo Nation and the other Project Participants. 

Their job requires them to be at the construction site 12 hours a day, 6 days a 

week, pandemic or not they are always ready to perform their duties. Some of their 

responsibilities includes construction inspection, materials testing, field engineering, 

and surveying. 

Question asked to Reclamation employees: Now that everything is more challenging 

and complicated, what motivates you? Is it worth it? 

• “Absolutely, I’m here for my people and my sacrifice is worth it.”

• “I do this job because I’m a dedicated civil servant and I’m proud of being part 

of this project.”

• “I have a responsibility to the Navajo people to ensure that this job gets done 

correctly.” 

• “Water is life, we have a responsibility with the Navajo people. We must 

continue.”

This very important essential work is not without a great deal of risk and sacrifice. 

However, these dedicated FCCO employees continue to press forward in the face of 

these challenging times. 

Reclamation Surveyor Nelson Kinsel, 

checking grade and line of a 42” steel pipe 

for NGWSP. February 10, 2021. Photo by 

Hilda Castillo Smith.
Navajo–Gallup Water Supply 

Project Newsletter

If you would like to learn more visit our website at 

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

3rd Quarter, April 2021

By Jim Magnuson, Operations Manager, Navajo Tribal Utility Authority

October 27, 2020 was a significant milestone for the NGWSP - that was the day the Project began delivering potable water to 

Navajo Tribal Utility Authority customers. This water delivery continues in 2021 along the Cutter Lateral transmission pipeline 

of the NGWSP as more NTUA community water systems replace existing groundwater sources with water treated at the Cutter 

Lateral Water Treatment Plant. The Carson – Dzilth-Na-O-Dith-Hle system was the first NTUA system to receive water and now 

the list of communities receiving NGWSP water includes Nageezi and Counselor. The latter two NTUA systems were each served 

on December 28, 2020 and February 11, 2021, respectively.

It is expected that the Jicarilla Apache Nation will also begin 

to receive water later this summer. The offset in the delivery 

schedule allows NTUA to conduct flushing operations in each 

community water system as the CLWTP treated water replaces 

existing groundwater within the distribution piping network. 

The other benefit from the NGWSP delivering water to the 

NTUA systems is the delivery capacity from the NGWSP 

exceeds the existing systems’ source supplies, thereby increasing overall service capacity and affords NTUA the opportunity for 

system-wide flushing operations, not limited by lower production capacities of the existing well sources.

By Becky Begay, Navajo Outreach Coordinator, Bureau of Reclamation

The Bureau of Reclamation is partnering with the Navajo Technical University New Media Students in filming three documentary 

films over the next three years on the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project. 

The documentary films are being funded through a grant from Reclamation’s Native American Affairs Program. The films will 

tell the story and document the history and the progress of one of the largest Native American water rights settlement agreements 

in the history of the United States. 

The documentary will be used by Reclamation, Navajo Nation 

agencies, Navajo Tribal Utility Authority, Navajo chapters, 

Council Delegates, and other NGWSP Project Participants to 

educate the public on the importance of the NGWSP, and the 

need to plan and prepare for how the Navajo Nation and other 

communities are going to use the drinking water. 

The NTU Media students will be using the documentary 

as a part of their senior capstone project for their degree 

program. The students working on the film are Bernice Coho 

from Tseyato, New Mexico, Wade Shannah from Standing 

Rock, New Mexico, Antawne Temple from Crownpoint, New 

Mexico, and Merial Simpson from Crownpoint, New Mexico. 

They are mentored by Aanor Louis a lecturer of new media at 

NTU. 

Filming began in October 2020 at the Cutter Lateral Water Treatment Plant pre-commissioning tour with Reclamation’s 

Commissioner Brenda Burman. The NGWSP documentary film is a very important film to help educate the public and provide a 

glimpse of how critical drinking water is on the Navajo Nation. Be on the lookout for the documentary at a film festival near you 

in the coming years.

Navajo Technical University Filming Documentaries of the NGWSP 

Update on Cutter Lateral Water Deliveries

1. Ojo Encino – March 8, 2021

2. Torreon – April 14, 2021, 

3. Whitehorse Lake – May 19, 2021

These are the scheduled dates for water 

delivery on the Cutter Lateral waterline

Reclamation employee Ryan Gladden being interviewed by NTU 

student Wade Shannah at Cutter Dam, New Mexico.