“Water Action Month:” Tribal Lands and Pueblos Are Focus of New Bills

Published May 24, 2022 at 2:05 p.m

Water is life and New Mexico is running out of it fast. The worst drought in 1,200 years continues to dry up the Land of Enchantment, leaving its clear blue skies with the smoke of endless massive wildfires. In a recent journal article published in Nature Climate Change, researchers found that the years 2000 to 2021 were the driest two decades since AD ​​800. It is estimated that in the Navajo Nation, 30 to 40% of Diné households do not have access to running water.

U.S. Representative Melanie Stansbury (NM-01) created Water Action Month to remind people that it’s time to rethink water stewardship in New Mexico.

Several sweeping bipartisan bills will be introduced this month, including the Water Data Act, the Rio Grande Water Security Act, and several bills supporting tribal and pueblo water access to address water security in the West and across the United States. Representatives from the House and Senate will sponsor a series of water bills designed to revolutionize national water management during Water Action Month.

Stansbury introduces a federal Water Data Act and the Rio Grande Water Security Act in the House of Representatives. The accompanying Senate legislation (S.4236), led by US Senators Martin Heinrich (NM) and Ben Ray Luján (NM), will submit the legislation to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

The Stanbury State Water Data Act was enacted into law in New Mexico. It identifies and integrates important water data. The law now in place would allow federal agencies to adopt coordinated standards for reporting water data that would allow states, tribes and local communities to more easily access that information, which is crucial during the severe drought conditions New Mexico is currently experiencing meaning is

Stansbury co-sponsored the Tribal Access to Clean Water Act recently introduced by Rep. Joe Neguse along with the reauthorization of the Pueblo Indian Irrigation Fund.

Stansbury, US Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (NM-03) and Yvette Herrell (NM-02) will introduce additional bipartisan bicameral legislation in the House of Representatives and create a comprehensive package to address drought and water safety legislation this month.

“I’m proud to support the Rio Grande Water Security Act,” said Rep. Herrell. “The long-term health and viability of the Rio Grande is not a partisan issue. Unless we act quickly, the drought will continue to negatively impact our communities, causing crop losses and forcing ranchers to sell cattle herds due to lack of water.”

Stansbury recently testified during a hearing on water, oceans and wildlife in support of the Tribal Water Security Legislation. She spoke about the WaterSMART Access for Tribes Act, HR 6238, which she co-sponsored, which would help tribes access critical water resource management finance.

Tribal nations across New Mexico have not had adequate funds to meet water infrastructure needs for many decades, including funding for irrigation, potable water, and other water security needs. Burdens and cost-sharing requirements have proven to be a significant barrier to accessing needed finance.

“We know that water is life. Water is sacred, and water is essential to everything we do,” Stanberry told attendees at the hearing. “Yet for many of our tribal and indigenous communities, access to water, the water infrastructure and the financing needed to build and maintain that infrastructure have remained unattainable.”

The To’hajiilee Chapter of the Navajo Nation has lived without safe drinking water for years and has had to fetch water miles away for use in homes, public buildings and the local senior center. In February 2022, the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Board approved $7.7 million in funding from the State Board of Water and Treasury for the To’Hajiilee Water Pipeline.

The construction of the pipeline is expected to take 12 to 18 months. The permit mandates that $7 million will come from a grant, with the Navajo Nation expected to repay nearly $800,000 in loans.

The US WaterSMART program supports water conservation, water use efficiency, drought planning, and water reuse and recycling projects. The program consolidates several water protection agencies under the Bureau of Reclamation. Fewer than five percent of projects funded since WaterSMART’s inception have been led by tribes or pueblos.

“For more than a decade, the US Department of the Interior’s WaterSMART program has awarded hundreds of grants to communities across the West as one of our nation’s premier water conservation programs,” Stansbury said. “Yet, tribes have received less than 5% of these grants, despite the tremendous need in tribal communities due to burdens and cost-sharing requirements that have been a significant barrier to accessing these funds,” Stansbury explained.

The WaterSMART Access for Tribal Act would give the Navajo Nation the avenues it needs to receive financial support for the pipeline and a variety of other water projects. The law has gained momentum and support since its inception, with 14 bipartisan co-sponsors of the bill, including Rep. Leger Fernández (NM-03).

Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez also testified virtually at the WOW hearing in support of the WaterSMART Access for Tribes Act and the Tribal Access to Clean Water Act.

“Current estimates show that between 9,000 and 16,000 Navajo homes do not have access to running water. These families have to fetch water from gas stations across the country to meet their basic needs, which places a huge economic burden on families who are already struggling,” Nez said.

“Navajo citizens pay an estimated 67 times more for water they transport than for water delivered to their homes through a municipal water system. This includes the cost of fuel for their vehicle, for water barrels, vehicle maintenance and the cost of the water itself, which depends on where they buy the water,” Nez explained.

If enacted into law, the WaterSMART Tribal Access Act would authorize US Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland to remove obstacles that have stood in the way of tribal access to funding, freeing up millions of dollars that are badly needed to get into access Investing water for the tribes. These include drought-fighting, water conservation, efficiency, reuse and recycling projects. Under the bipartisan law, Haaland could waive or reduce cost-sharing requirements for tribes to implement drought and water projects under the Bureau of Reclamation.

“In 2022, as the West faces an unprecedented drought, it is ruthless that we have not mustered the civil courage and political will to address these issues,” Stansbury concluded.

You might also like

Comments are closed.