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/.

1st Quarter, Oct. 2021

Faces of NGWSP

Teddy Lopez is a Navajo elder from 

the Nageezi Chapter area of the 

Navajo Nation. His community 

near Lybrook is not yet tied into the 

Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project 

Cutter Lateral waterline, so he and 

his neighbors do not have consistent 

access to clear, high-quality tap water.

Some of his family members must 

travel for work to support their 

families. The hope is that with more 

readily available water, more local 

businesses will come to the area and 

create additional jobs.

In nearby Dzilth-Nao-Dith-Hle 

and Nageezi communities, there 

were reports of poor-quality water 

with bad taste and smell from the 

community water systems prior to 

their connection to the Cutter Lateral 

system. The recent connection to the 

lateral has since eliminated all reports 

of those issues. The Navajo Nation 

and Souder Miller and Associates are 

designing the pipeline to also connect 

the Lybrook community water system 

into the Cutter Lateral to improve the 

water quality for residents there soon 

as well.

Once Lopez heard about the NGWSP, 

he said he became excited and started 

making plans to build more businesses 

in the community in the future: 

another gas station, a hotel, a truck 

stop, a car wash, and a laundromat. 

Lopez said he would like the Navajo 

Nation community to understand how 

important the Cutter Lateral is for 

helping to create jobs and improve the 

quality of life for future generations.

NAVAJO-GALLUP CONSTRUCTION MOVING 

FORWARD

By Patrick Page, Construction Engineer, & Hilda Castillo-Smith, Resident Civil Engineer, 

Bureau of Reclamation

Significant progress continues on the construction of the Navajo-Gallup Water 

Supply Project. In this edition of the newsletter, we highlight the ongoing work by 

Reclamation and our partners on the Project.

Reclamation currently has two active construction contracts. Block 4C-8 consists 

of the installation of 30 miles of 48-inch- and 42-inch-diameter steel pipe 

between Twin Lakes and Little Water, New Mexico. The contractor, Oscar Renda 

Contracting, Inc., began work in January 2020 and is scheduled to be completed in 

the spring 2022. 

The second active contract is the construction of the Tooh Haltsooi Pumping Plant 

(Pumping Plant Number 4) near the community of Sheep Springs, New Mexico, 

and the Bahastl’ah Pumping Plant (Pumping Plant Number 7) near the communities 

of Twin Lakes and Coyote Canyon, New Mexico. Contractor Archer Western began 

construction on the plants in January 2021 and expects to complete the work in 

September 2023. The pumping plants are designed to lift drinking water through 

the transmission pipeline to higher elevations and communities south of each plant. 

Reclamation will also soon award a construction contract for the Navajo Code 

Talkers Sublateral that will supply water to communities along New Mexico State 

Highway 264 and the Window Rock/Ft. Defiance area. This construction will begin 

in early 2022. Reclamation’s partners, including the Navajo Nation and the City of 

Gallup, are also busy constructing portions of the San Juan Lateral, and their efforts 

are highlighted in this newsletter.

Figure 2 - Backfill of collar 7 days after 

placement - Block 4c-8. By Hilda Castillo 

Smith

Figure 1 – 42-inch steel pipe installation - 

Block 4c-8. 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/.

1st Quarter, Oct. 2021

By Tory Tadano, Project Engineer, Souder, Miller & Associates 

NGWSP Reach 26.1 & 26.2

The construction of Reaches 26.1 and 26.2 are complete, and the water transmission system is online and currently supplying 

Cutter Lateral water to the Pueblo Pintado community water system, as well as the Whitehorse Lake community water system 

through the Eastern Navajo Water Pipeline Phase 4. The Navajo Tribal Utility Authority will own and operate the Navajo Nation 

and SMA-designed reaches, which started delivering clean and reliable project water to both communities on May 24. The 

pipeline capacity flowrate is 540 gallons per minute and includes two new water storage tanks at Pueblo Pintado, a chlorinator, a 

surge tank, and pressure reducing valve. 

NGWSP Reach 26.3

The construction of Reach 26.3 is complete, and the water transmission system is online and currently supplying project water to 

the Torreon community water system. Like Reaches 26.1 and 26.2, The Navajo Tribal Utility Authority will own and operate this 

reach, which started delivering Cutter Lateral water to the Torreon community on April 15. The pipeline capacity is 807 gallons 

per minute and includes two new water storage tanks at a new tank site known as the 26.3 Tank site, a chlorinator, and pressure 

reducing valve. 

By Kurt Spolar, Engineer, DePauli Engineering and Surveying, LLC

The Gallup Regional Water System is now 70% complete 

with Reaches 13, 27.1, 27.3, 27.5, 27.6, 27.7A, 27.9, 27.10 and 

27.13 complete and currently delivering water. 

The Navajo communities and NTUA water systems 

currently being served by the GRWS include Manuelito, 

Yahtahey, Gamerco, Coal Basin and the Boardman Navajo 

communities. The regional system will also deliver water to 

Iyanbito and Churchrock as soon as Reaches 14.1 and 14.2 are 

completed by the Indian Health Service. 

As the GRWS system nears completion, private and public 

developers are using the improved water system to attract 

new industries, hospitals, and housing in the GRWS service 

area. These new water demands, and the delay of the San 

Juan Lateral water deliveries, has created a shortage in water 

production capacity. 

Water system planning efforts now include identifying 

funds with the help of the NGWSP Project Participants, to 

design and construct six new groundwater wells to increase 

the system’s production capacity. The estimated design and 

construction cost for each of the proposed wells is $3.5 

million.

Reach 27.12 and the additional wells are planned for 

construction and to be in operation before the end of 2025. 

With proper management and planning, the GRWS will be 

a catalyst for economic development in the City of Gallup, 

McKinley County, the adjacent Navajo Chapters, and 

surrounding communities. 

● Is scheduled to begin in early 2022

● Total cost of $5.6 million

● Deliver drinking water to Red Rock, Bread Springs, and

Chichilitah Chapters

Reach 27.11

Reach 27.7B ● Is scheduled to begin construction in late 2022

● Total estimated cost of $8.3 million

● Deliver drinking water to Pinedale and Mariano Lake

Reach 27.5 Gamerco Tanks

Gallup Regional Water System Construction Update

Pueblo Pintado Chapter and Torreon Chapter Construction Update