Council names new water rights subcommittee
Paul Long Jr with the Navajo Nation Department of Water Resources tops of a 55-gallon barrel with non-potable water Thursday in Shiprock, N.M. Residents living along the San Juan River who've been affected by the Aug. 5 toxic water spill don't have access to the river since the Navajo tribal government shut down access to it until further notice. (Times photo - Donovan Quintero)
WINDOW ROCK
A five-member subcommittee will negotiate the Little Colorado River water rights settlement with the Hopi Tribe, the Naabik’iyátí’ Committee decided during its regular meeting on Thursday.
The vote to form the committee was unanimous.
LoRenzo Bates
“This is a priority for the 23rd Navajo Nation Council,” said Navajo Nation Speaker LoRenzo Bates in an interview with the Times.
The new team includes Navajo Nation delegates Walter Phelps (Cameron/Coalmine Canyon/Birdsprings/Leupp/Tolani Lake), Otto Tso (To’Nanees’Dizi), Lee Jack Sr. (Dilcon/Indian Wells/Teesto/Whitecone/Greasewood Springs) Dwight Witherspoon (Hard Rock/ Forest Lake/Piñon/Black Mesa/Whippoorwill) and Alton Joe Shepherd (Jeddito/ Cornfields/Ganado/Kinlichee/Steamboat).
Previous negotiations were done by a negotiating team formed by an executive order by President Russell Begaye, but ultimately there was an impasse. According to Bates, who sponsored the legislation creating the subcommittee, the Hopis had requested a different team.
“It was told to council that there has been an impasse between Hopi and (the President’s) negotiating team,” said Bates. “They request to talk leadership to leadership.”
Bates said that he sent a letter to Begaye notifying him about the legislaion and asking if anyone from his administration would be interested in joining the negotiation team. As of press time, he hadn’t heard back on that.
The legislation states that the team will comprise five members of the Naabik’iyátí’ Committee, three members from the Office of the President and Vice President, one member from the Department of Justice, one member from the Division of Natural Resources’ Water Management Program, and one member from a community along the LCR.
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