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/.

4th Quarter, July 2021

Faces of NGWSP

Yateeh, my name is Bidtah Becker. 

Kinłichíinii’ nishle, Bilagaana 

baashishchiin, Tódichiinii’ da shicheii, 

doo Bilagaana da shinalí. I am from 

Fort Defiance, Arizona and work as 

an Associate Attorney at Navajo Tribal 

Utility Authority. I’m helping NTUA 

to eventually take over operations and 

maintenance of the Navajo-Gallup 

Water Supply Project. We also work 

closely with the Navajo Nation, who 

is party to the Navajo San Juan Water 

Right Settlement with the United 

States and State of New Mexico. The 

NGWSP is a cornerstone of that 

settlement and I have had the privilege 

of working on the project ever since 

I came back to work for the Navajo 

Nation; first as an attorney for the 

Department of Justice, and then with 

Division of Natural Resources where 

I had the privilege of serving as the 

director until 2019. After taking a 

six-month break, I returned to work 

for NTUA because I could continue to 

work on NGWSP.

Water is life. The NGWSP will 

help in providing the opportunity 

for improving the public health 

and economies of the communities 

served by the project. COVID-19 has 

reminded people of the privilege of 

having clean, safe water delivered to 

a home and how vital it is to giving 

us the ability to help control future 

health pandemics – a privilege Navajo 

people do not – and will not – take for 

granted.

Navajo Code Talkers Sublateral: Reaches 12.1 and 12.2

By Ryan Seamus Royer, Civil Engineer PE Design Group FCCO

Reaches 12.1 and 12.2 of the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project, better known as 

the Navajo Code Talkers Sublateral, will begin construction later this year, or early 

2022. Construction is expected to be completed in early 2024. The reach consists 

of 17 miles of water transmission pipeline running along the north side of Highway 

264 from Ya-Tah-Hey Junction to Tse Bonito, Arizona. This portion of the project 

will deliver a reliable source of clean drinking water to the Rock Springs and 

Tsayatoh chapters in New Mexico, and eventually to Window Rock, Ft. Defiance, 

and surrounding communities in Arizona.

To install the pipeline, permission from the landowner is needed. For the bulk of the 

300 plus miles of pipeline on the entire NGWSP, the land is governed by the Navajo 

Nation. However, the Navajo Code Talkers Sublateral is unique, having the greatest 

variety of non-Navajo land on the entire project. Land status on this sublateral 

includes Navajo Trust and Fee lands, individual Indian allotment lands, State Trust 

lands, and private lands.

The groundwork to obtain the right-of-way began nearly a decade ago. To construct 

the water pipeline across the allotted lands, a majority of allottees on each allotment 

must consent to the construction of the water pipeline across their allotment. 

Similar consent must be obtained from the Navajo Nation for Tribal Trust and 

Fee lands. The consent gathering process is completed and the Bureau of Indian 

Affairs has granted the Bureau of Reclamation the right to construct, operate, and 

maintain the pipeline across the allotted, trust, and fee lands. Land acquisition on 

the remaining parcels is wrapping up.

The view looking northwest from NM 264 into Tsé Bonito, New Mexico, where the Code 

Talkers Lateral will end near the Arizona state line.
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/.

4th Quarter, July 2021

By Mark Gray, Supervisory Construction Control Representative, Bureau of Reclamation

In recognition of National Construction Safety Week, May 3-7, Reclamation’s contractor Archer Western, who is constructing 

pumping plants #4 and #7 on NGWSP, conducted a series of safety training events for employees.

● Day 1 was “Equipment Operator Training for Non-Operators” designed to give employees who work close to equipment, the opportunity 

to experience what it is like to be an operator; to see what they see (and more importantly, don’t see).

● Day 2 was a demonstration of new types of hand tools to show the changes in technology involving dustless and cordless hand tools. 

Employees learned that dustless tools protect against potentially dangerous contaminants in the air, such as silica dust and cordless 

tools allow work to be performed in wet locations, which allows for a safer work environment. 

● Day 3 involved demonstrations and training on ladder safety, including how to set up a ladder properly, and how to read and understand 

weight limitations on ladders. Multiple ladders were used for the demonstrations.

● Day 4 focused on fall protection equipment. Construction of the pumping plants will require employees to work at heights. The training 

provided employees with the knowledge on how to select the proper fall protection equipment needed to perform their job. The 

Newcomb Fire Department also visited the site and detailed the services they provide to the area.

Training opportunities like this help to prevent accidents and injuries, protect employees’ health, and save lives. Reclamation’s 

Field Engineering Division Manager Rick Reese praised Archer Western and summed up the week by saying, “It is refreshing to 

see a contractor take safety as seriously as we do here at Reclamation.”

By Four Corners Construction Office, Bureau of Reclamation

New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich and his staff stopped by 

the Cutter Lateral Water Treatment Plant as part of a planned 

visit to the area in early May. Senator Heinrich, a long-time 

and avid supporter of the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project, 

got to spend time with Reclamation personnel, as well as staff 

from the design-build contractor Jacobs, who is also currently 

operating the plant during the one-year commissioning 

process.

The Senator toured the control room where operators were 

monitoring water treatment and deliveries to downstream 

Navajo communities, and also visited the water treatment 

process building and the treated water pumping plant to see 

first-hand the modern features of the new facility. Soon after 

his visit, Navajo Tribal Utility Authority introduced water to 

Pueblo Pintado and Whitehorse Lake Chapter’s public water 

systems, bringing the total to eight communities in seven 

chapters that are now receiving Cutter Lateral water. 

“Given his mechanical engineering degree and experience 

and past involvement in municipal water utilities, the Senator 

was very interested in the innerworkings of the plant and 

asked some great questions throughout the tour,” said Project 

Construction Engineer for the Four Corners Construction 

Office Pat Page.

At the end of the tour, the group rewarded themselves by 

enjoying a fresh, cold drink of water produced by the water treatment plant, which they said tasted great.

Senator Heinrich Visits Cutter Lateral Water Treatment Plant

National Construction Safety Week Celebrated on NGWSP

From left: U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich and Reclamation 

Construction Engineer, Patrick Page, enjoy a cold drink of water 

from the state-of-the-art Cutter Lateral Water Treatment Plan on 

May 3, 2021.