The Navajo Nation (Nation) and the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) are beginning negotiations on a proposed contract to provide for water deliveries from three Reclamation projects to the Navajo Nation. The three projects that were indentified in the Northwest New Mexico Rural Projects Act of 2009 (Act) are the Navajo Indian Irrigation Project, the Animas-La Plata Project, and the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project. The Act authorized the settlement of Navajo Nation water rights in the San Juan River Basin in New Mexico. The first negotiation meeting is scheduled for October 6, 2009 at 10:00 am at the Farmington Civic Center, 200 W Arrington Street in Farmington, New Mexico.

The contract will provide terms and conditions in which water will be stored and delivered under the three projects. In addition, the contract will address operation, maintenance, and replacement (OM&R) responsibilities.

All negotiations are open to the public as observers, and the public will have the opportunity to ask questions and offer comments pertaining to the contract during a thirty (30) minute comment period following the negotiation session. The proposed contract and other pertinent documents will be available at the negotiation meeting, or can be obtained by contacting Ryan Randol of the Bureau of Reclamation, 835 East Second Avenue, Suite 300, Durango, Colorado, 81301; telephone (970) 385-6531 or e-mail at rrandol@usbr.gov. The documents are also available on-line from Reclamation's Western Colorado Area Office home page in the "Current Focus" section.