Navajo Gallup Water Supply Project 

Newsletter

1st Quarter, October 2018

Bureau of Reclamation launches 

Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project 

Newsletter

By Pat Page, P.E.

Welcome to the Bureau of Reclamation’s first edition of the Navajo-Gallup Water 

Supply Project Quarterly Newsletter. The newsletter will provide information

on current and future construction activities, as well as present background 

information, answer frequently asked questions, and detail important facts 

pertaining to the project.

The Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project, or NGWSP, is the cornerstone of the 

Navajo Nation’s 2010 Water Rights Settlement agreement on the San Juan River 

Basin in New Mexico. When completed, the project will include over 300 miles of 

pipeline, two water treatment plants, 19 pumping plants, several million gallons of 

storage and will provide a reliable and clean drinking water supply for 43

chapters within the Navajo Nation, the southwestern portion of the Jicarilla Apache 

Reservation, and the City of Gallup. Reclamation has the overall responsibility for 

the project, but the Navajo Nation, the City of Gallup, and the Indian Health Service 

are also completing portions of the project under financial assistance agreements 

with Reclamation. The current cost estimate for the project is $1.16 billion (at the 

October 2018 price level). The Federal Government is providing the majority of the 

funding, but the State of New Mexico is also providing $50 million in cost-share, 

and the City of Gallup and Jicarilla Apache Nation are required to repay a portion 

of their allocated construction costs (the construction costs allocated to the Navajo 

Nation are forgiven as part of the water rights settlement agreement).

We hope you enjoy this newsletter and 

find the information presented here

to be interesting and useful. Should 

you have any questions regarding the 

Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project, 

or have input on the newsletter, please 

contact Pat Page at (505) 324-5027, or 

ppage@usbr.gov. You can also check

out our website at https://www.usbr.gov/

uc/rm/navajo/nav-gallup/.

A 42” pipe installation and replacement of bedding and 

embedment on Reach 11-Twin Lakes, New Mexico.

– photo by Rick Gillespie

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/.

Faces of NGWSP

My name is Jason John and I am 

the Water Management Branch 

Manager, Department of Water 

Resources for the Navajo Nation. I 

am from Twin Lakes, New Mexico.

I am born to the Tábąąhá, I am 

born for the T ł ‘ááshchí’í, my 

maternal grandfathers are the 

‘Áshįįhi, my paternal grandfathers 

are the Kiyaa’áanii.

I’ve worked for the Navajo Nation 

Department of Water Resources 

since 2001; initially as a Principal 

Hydrologist, and now as Water 

Management Branch Chief. I 

oversee the daily operations for 

various water projects across

the Navajo Nation, focusing on 

regional domestic water projects 

for current and future uses.

NGWSP is important because it 

will provide water for future uses 

on the Navajo Nation to assist

in sustaining the homeland for 

the Navajo Nation communities. 

This includes water for domestic, 

municipal, commercial and light 

industrial uses. It will provide 

many benefits including a clean 

water supply, opportunities for 

economic growth, and jobs.
Navajo Gallup Water Supply Project 

Newsletter

1st Quarter, October 2018

Upcoming Construction

By Bart Deming, P.E. The San Juan Lateral will divert water from the San Juan

Construction on the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project is 

well underway and will continue on both the Cutter Lateral 

and San Juan Lateral during the current fall 2018 season. The 

project is being constructed in segments or “reaches”.

On the Cutter Lateral, Moltz Construction is installing the 

final few miles of 24-inch pipe along Reach 22b. The contract 

also includes construction of two pumping plants. When 

completed in the spring of 2019, the pipeline and pumping 

plant project will connect Cutter Dam to the Cutter Lateral 

Water Treatment Plant, near the community of Dzilth-Na-ODith-Hle. CH2M Hill Constructors are scheduled to break 

ground on the treatment plant in early November.

Navajo Engineering and Construction Authority is completing 

the stub pipeline off Reach 24.1 that will deliver water to

the southwest portion of the Jicarilla Apache Reservation with 

construction anticipated to be completed this upcoming 

winter. NECA will also start construction in late October on 

Reaches 26.1 and 26.2, which will deliver water to Counselor, 

Pueblo Pintado and Whitehorse Lake Chapters.

River at the Hogback Diversion Dam and convey it to Navajo 

communities along Highways 491, 264, and Navajo Route

9, along with the city of Gallup, and Navajo communities 

west, south, and east of Gallup. Construction is underway 

on Reaches 9, 10, and 11 between Naschitti and Twin Lakes. 

Oscar Renda Contracting, Inc., is installing 42-inch and 48-

inch diameter pipe on these reaches. The City of Gallup’s 

contractor, Smithco Construction, is scheduled to complete 

Reaches 27.7a and Reach 27.13, part of the Gallup Regional 

System, at the end of November.

Construction work on Tohlakai Pumping Plant, Navajo-Gallup is not only bring water to 

the Navajo Nation; it’s also bringing jobs. – photo by Dave Gates

Highlight - Cutter Water Treatment Plant

By Daivd Stoliker P.E. and Hubert “Chico” Quintana

The design of the Cutter Water Treatment Plant and Reach 21 pipeline is complete and construction is set to start in early 

November. This final piece will complete the Cutter Lateral Water Transmission System and is the culmination of years of 

planning and hard work going back to even before the project was authorized by Congress when local chapters got together 

to start work on the Cutter Lateral.

The Cutter Lateral waterline starts at Cutter Reservoir, a feature of the Navajo Indian Irrigation Project and receives its 

water from Navajo Reservoir. The connection to the Cutter Lateral waterline at Cutter Dam was completed in 2017. A large, 

underground waterline was completed this year to within 4 miles of the Cutter Lateral Water Treatment Plant site. The 

Reach 21 waterline will complete the waterline connection all the way to the Water Treatment Plant site. The Cutter Lateral 

waterline will provide the communities from Dzilth-Na-O-Dith-Hle to Pueblo Pintado, as well as the southwestern portion

of the Jicarilla Apache Reservation, with clean drinking 

water, that will also be available for commercial and 

industrial uses.

An artist’s rendering of the Water Treatment Plant has been 

prepared by the designer, Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc., 

and is shown here.

A blessing ceremony was held on October 22, at the 

location of the water treatment plant. The Cutter Water 

Treatment Plant is scheduled to be completed and 

delivering clean, reliable water to its customers in 2020.

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/.