Reclamation's Western Colorado Area Office announced the third round of negotiations with the Navajo Nation (Nation) on a proposed contract to provide water deliveries to tribal water users from three Reclamation projects. The Navajo Indian Irrigation Project, the Animas-La Plata Project, and the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project were identified in the Northwest New Mexico Rural Water Projects Act of 2009, which authorized the settlement of Navajo Nation water rights in the San Juan River Basin in New Mexico. The negotiation meeting is scheduled for Thursday, November 5 at 8:00 am in Albuquerque New Mexico at the Bureau of Indian Affairs complex, Building BIA2, Room 284, 1001 Indian School Rd. NW.

The contract will provide terms and conditions under which water will be stored and delivered by the three projects. In addition, the contract will address operation, maintenance, and replacement (OM&R) responsibilities. Previous negotiation sessions were held in October 2009, in Farmington, New Mexico.

All negotiations are open to the public and attendees 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 at www.usbr.gov/uc/wcao/ under "Current Focus".