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/. 

2nd Quarter, Jan. 2022

Evaluation of San Juan Generating Station Water 

Conveyance Facilities In Progress 

By James (Sterling) Acree, Project Management Specialist, Bureau of Reclamation 

Reclamation has been analyzing the possible inclusion of the San Juan Generating 

Station water conveyance facilities into the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project, and 

a draft Environmental Assessment is expected to be released for public comment in 

the spring of 2022.

In 2018, the Public Service Company of New Mexico with plans for closing down 

the power plant in 2022, approached Reclamation and suggested consideration of 

incorporating the existing river intake and water conveyance system, including the 

San Juan Generating Station reservoir, into our water supply project. Since then, 

Reclamation has learned of the City of Farmington and Enchant Energy’s interest 

in keeping the power plant operating and have confirmed there is sufficient system 

capacity for both the NGWSP and continued power generation.

Use of these existing facilities could provide major benefits to NGWSP, including 

increased reliability of the water supply, improved and consistent water quality 

entering the water treatment plant, greater operational flexibility during monsoon 

events, and both capital and operational cost savings. These benefits come with 

the system’s 50+ years of reliable performance and inclusion of an off-river storage 

reservoir capable of supplying approximately two weeks of water supply at fullNGWSP demands.

Water sampling and testing has begun and will continue to take place at both 

the San Juan River and the SJGS reservoir. The testing showed that the water 

in the reservoir is of similar water quality to the river, as it was only used for 

storage without any return flow from the power plant, and is fit for drinking water 

treatment. Once treated, this water will meet or exceed Federal Safe Drinking 

Water Act standards and can be ready for delivery through the NGWSP to Navajo 

communities and to the City of Gallup by summer 2028.

Water for the NGWSP’s San Juan Lateral will be drawn from the San Juan River and stored in 

an existing reservoir prior to treatment and delivery 

Faces of NGWSP 

Yateeh, my name is Pat Page and I am 

the Project Construction Engineer 

for Reclamation’s Four Corners 

Construction Office. I’ve been 

involved with the NGWSP since the 

early 2000’s. Since then, I’ve had the 

honor and privilege to be part of a 

team that has taken the Project from 

a conceptual dream to monumental 

reality, where clean drinking water is 

being delivered to communities and 

individuals.

After 33 years of federal service, I am 

retiring. When looking back, there 

are many construction milestones I 

can point to as highlights, but it’s the 

human element and those interactions 

involved with this project that has 

moved me the most – being invited 

into people’s homes to negotiate 

a right-of-way; hearing and seeing 

Navajo leaders passionately, (to 

the point of tears,) describe the 

importance of the Project; and one of 

my proudest moments – introducing 

myself in Navajo in a meeting inside 

the Tribal Council Chambers.

At the end of the day, this Project 

is about people: those who had the 

vision and passion to get NGWSP 

to this point; those who will see 

that it’s completed; and those who 

it will benefit so profoundly – for 

generations to come. I will be 

watching and cheering!
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/. 

2nd Quarter, Jan. 2022

Navajo Gallup’s Cutter Lateral Water Treatment Plant Receives National Recognition -

By Chris Watt, Public Affairs Specialist & Bart Deming, Deputy 

Construction Engineer

 Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project representatives were 

recently presented with three prestigious national designbuild awards for the highly successful Cutter Lateral Water 

Treatment Plant, which has treated and delivered drinking 

water to Navajo communities on the Cutter Lateral for over a 

year. 

Representatives from the Navajo Nation Department of Water 

Resources, Reclamation’s Four Corners Construction Office, 

and design-build contractor, Jacobs accepted the awards from 

the Design Build Institute of America at the Design-Build 

Conference & Expo in Denver, Colorado, Nov. 1-3, 2021.

The Cutter Lateral Water Treatment Plant team was honored 

with the: 

● 2021 Design-Build National Award of Merit in Water/

Wastewater (for being one of the best three design-build 

projects in that category); 

● the 2021 Design-Build National Award of Excellence in Water/

Wastewater (the nation’s best water/wastewater project); 

● and the 2021 DBIA Chairman’s Award for the project that 

demonstrated the greatest Community Impact & Social 

Responsibility, highlighting the benefits this project provides 

to the Cutter Lateral communities. 

The awards are given annually by DBIA to honor the nation’s 

best design-build projects and leaders.

“Those people [who have access to water now], I know, are 

really happy. I go to meetings, and I see their faces and the 

way they ask questions, it’s a real big thing for them,” said 

Navajo Nation Water Rights Commission member and handson advocate of the NGWSP, Bert Sandoval. 

Roughly 6,000 people or 1,500 households in eight Navajo 

chapters are now receiving this life-giving water, and by 

January 2022 the Jicarilla Apache Nation will also receive 

drinking water from the Cutter Lateral. In addition to 

replacing poor quality and diminishing groundwater, the 

dependable water supply will enable areas of growth and 

development, including commercial community and medical 

facilities, wellness centers, and housing developments. 

Reclamation and Jacobs will operate the new water treatment 

facilities until April 2022, when the operations and 

maintenance responsibilities will transfer to the Navajo Nation 

Utility Authority.

For more information about the award-winning Cutter Lateral 

Water Treatment project, please visit https://dbia.org/project/

cutter-lateral-reach-21-water-treatment-plant-and-associateditems-navajo-gallup/ or https://www.usbr.gov/uc/progact/

navajo-gallup/index.html. 

From left: Ted Michaelidis – Jacobs Project Manager, Robert 

Kirk – Navajo Nation Department of Water Resources Principle 

Hydrologist, Bart Deming – Reclamation Deputy Construction 

Engineer, Jill Petersen – Jacobs Project Engineer 

Cutter Lateral Water Treatment Plant Blessing Ceremony 

By: Becky Begay, Navajo Outreach Coordinator, & Bart Deming, Deputy Construction Engineer, Bureau of Reclamation

A Navajo Hozhoonji (Blessing Way) Ceremony was held at the Cutter Lateral Water Treatment Plant at Dzilthnaodithhle, New 

Mexico on Oct. 29, 2021. The Hozhoonji Ceremony came almost one-year to the day after the initial water deliveries from the 

Cutter Lateral to Navajo homes, and it was important to all parties to traditionally bless the life-giving water coming from the 

Project.

Representatives from the Navajo Nation, local Navajo chapter officials, the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority, and the Bureau of 

Reclamation attended the ceremony. The water treatment plant is a key feature of the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project’s Cutter 

Lateral, which supplies clean and reliable drinking water to the communities of Huerfano, Dzilthnaodithhle, Tiis Tsoh Sikaad 

(Burnham), Nageezi, Ojo Encino, Torreon, Whitehorse Lake, and Pueblo Pintado.

The Hozhoonji Ceremony was conducted by Richard Anderson Sr., from Crownpoint, New Mexico. The small ceremony took 

place inside the water treatment plant’s process building, where the invited participants sat around a circle 6-feet apart and wore 

masks to comply with COVID-19 guidelines and requirements. The ceremony was conducted to bless the drinking water, the 

community, the area, the environment, and the treatment plant.