The City of Flagstaff is announcing it has reached agreement with the Attorney General’s Office of the Navajo Nation regarding drilling and pumping of water at Red Gap Ranch. Red Gap Ranch is an 8,500 acre ranch located immediately south of the Navajo Reservation in proximity of Leupp. The City acquired this Ranch in 2005 to serve its future water needs.
In January 2011, the Arizona Department of Water Resources approved a hydrology study submitted by Flagstaff that demonstrated the City’s ability to drill and pump 16,500 acre feet of water per year for the next 100 years provided various conditions are met. In February 2011, City Council voted to award a drilling contract to Layne Christensen to install wells on Red Gap Ranch. Concurrent with that action, the City received notice from the Navajo Nation, signed by President Ben Shelley threatening legal action against the City.
Since that time, the parties have been in discussion and recently the negotiating attorney’s reached an agreement. That agreement will be subject to a City Council vote on Tuesday, June 7, 2011.
The agreement is also subject to approval from the Navajo Nation’s Attorney General. The agreement will limit the City’s pumping on Red Gap Ranch accordingly: 1) no new wells greater than 35 gallons per minute will be established within 2 miles of the reservation boundary; 2) a maximum of 8,000 acre feet of water per year shall be allowed to be pumped between 2 miles and 6 miles south of the reservation boundary; 3) the number of wells and pumping six miles south of the reservation is unrestricted for municipal use. In exchange for these limitations, the Navajo Nation will not object to Flagstaff’s drilling, pumping, well locations or uses, or any pipeline right-of-way necessary to transport the water to Flagstaff.
This agreement serves as a foundation for a more comprehensive settlement of tribal water rights claims within the Little Colorado River Adjudication, which has been in the courts since 1979. This agreement represents a significant step forward in Flagstaff’s future water development and in Flagstaff-Navajo relations.
