Contractors broke ground June 2 in Gallup, N.M., for the first phase of the $1-billion Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project. The aqueduct network will ultimately deliver 37,376 acre-feet of water annually from the San Juan River to approximately 250,000 people by the year 2040, including 43 Navajo chapters, the city of Gallup and the Teepee Junction region of the Jicarilla Apache Nation.
The project, which includes 280 miles of pipeline, 24 pump stations, two water treatment plants and numerous storage facilities, is one of 14 high-priority infrastructure projects set aside by the Obama Administration for an expedited permitting and environmental-review process.