Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project Construction Begins

GALLUP, New Mexico, June 4, 2012 (ENS) - Federal government and Navajo Nation officials Saturday broke ground on the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project, which will deliver clean running water from the San Juan River to 200,000 members of the Navajo Nation, a first for many.

Hundreds of workers are starting to construct 280 miles of pipeline, two water treatment plants and a delivery system that will serve 43 Navajo chapters, the southwest portion of the Jicarilla Apache Nation, and the city of Gallup - a population expected to hit 250,000 by the year 2040.

These arid areas now rely on a rapidly depleting groundwater supply that is of poor quality and inadequate to meet current and future demands. Ground water levels for the city of Gallup have dropped 200 feet over the past 10 years and more than 40 percent of Navajo Nation households haul water to meet their daily needs.

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