The Bureau of Reclamation and city of Gallup, N.M. are continuing negotiations on a proposed repayment contract for the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project. The contract will provide the terms and conditions by which the city will repay its portion of project construction and operation, maintenance, and replacement costs.

The project, authorized by the Northwest New Mexico Rural Projects Act of 2009, will convey approximately 37,376 acre-feet of water annually from the San Juan River to the eastern section of the Navajo Nation, southwestern portion of the Jicarilla Apache Nation, and the city of Gallup via about 260 miles of pipeline, 24 pumping plants, and two water treatment plants.

This will be the fifth negotiation meeting; the first four were held in April, June, July, and August in Gallup. The meeting is scheduled for October 21, 2010, at 10:30 a.m. at the city of Gallup's Westside Fire Station #5 (aka Louie Chavez Fire Station) 707 Rico Street in Gallup, New Mexico. All negotiations are open to the public as observers and a 30-minute public question/comment period will be provided following the negotiation session. The proposed contract and other pertinent documents will be available at the negotiation meeting, or can be obtained by contacting Pat Page of the Bureau of Reclamation, 835 East Second Avenue, Suite 300, Durango, Colo., 81301; telephone (970) 385-6560 or e-mail at ppage@usbr.gov. The documents are also available on our website under "Current Focus".