HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 53

47th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2005

INTRODUCED BY

Patricia A. Lundstrom

A JOINT MEMORIAL

EXPRESSING APPRECIATION TO THE NAVAJO NATION, THE OFFICE OF THE STATE ENGINEER AND THE INTERSTATE STREAM COMMISSION FOR THEIR EFFORTS IN REACHING A SETTLEMENT OF THE NAVAJO NATION WATER RIGHTS.

     WHEREAS, the state of New Mexico and the Navajo Nation have negotiated the San Juan River Basin in New Mexico Navajo Nation Water Rights Settlement Agreement, referred to in this memorial as the settlement agreement, that quantifies the Navajo Nation's rights to use water of the San Juan river basin in New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, on December 29, 2004, the Navajo Nation council approved the settlement agreement; on January 12, 2005, the interstate stream commission passed a resolution approving the settlement agreement; and the state engineer, in his statutory duty to guide the adjudication of all waters of the state of New Mexico, approves of the settlement agreement; and

     WHEREAS, the Navajo Nation, office of the state engineer and interstate stream commission all have dedicated staff members whose time was committed to the exclusion of virtually all other duties to ensure that the opportunity to settle the water rights claims of the Navajo Nation was not lost; and

     WHEREAS, negotiations and public meetings leading to the settlement agreement have occurred throughout the Navajo Nation, in Farmington, Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico, and in Washington, D.C.; and

     WHEREAS, the meetings involving the parties to the settlement agreement have involved two years of negotiations, drafting and jaw-boning requiring staff to put in days as short as ten hours and as long as twenty hours; and

     WHEREAS, through the San Juan river area public meeting process that extended over a full year, the involved staff members were able to make significant improvements to the draft settlement agreement; and

     WHEREAS, through the professionalism, dedication and vision of the staff of the Navajo Nation, office of the state engineer and interstate stream commission, the parties were able to reach a settlement satisfactory to all; and

     WHEREAS, this settlement will make available a potable water supply to some of the most remote parts of the Navajo Nation that have never had either a potable or a treatable non-potable water supply; and

     WHEREAS, the settlement agreement will bring clarity to the question of water rights in the San Juan river basin in New Mexico and protect all valid existing water rights in that area; and

     WHEREAS, this settlement agreement is without precedent yet reflects New Mexico's vision to develop and have certainty in a well-managed water supply;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that it recognize and express its appreciation and gratitude to the Navajo Nation, the office of the state engineer and the interstate stream commission, and to the members of their staffs for their extensive efforts to successfully negotiate this historic settlement of Navajo Nation water rights in New Mexico; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the president of the Navajo Nation, the speaker of the Navajo Nation council, the office of the state engineer and the interstate stream commission.

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