LAS VEGAS—Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says tens thousands of Navajos will finally enjoy running water in their homes under a national settlement that quantifies the tribe’s water rights in the lower Colorado River basin.
Salazar and Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. signed the settlement Friday during the Colorado River Water Users Association annual conference in Las Vegas.
The agreement attempts to resolve a 142-year-old dispute. Government officials say it will provide a long-term clean water supply that will improve health conditions on the reservation and pave the way for future economic development in northwestern New Mexico.
Roughly 800 attendees are expected at the conference that focuses on the water-use agreement covering California, Arizona, Nevada, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. That plan affects more than 30 million people living in the West.
