Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 20, 2007

CONTACT:
* Dailan Long, Diné C.A.R.E., (505) 801-0713
* Mike Eisenfeld, San Juan Citizens Alliance, (505) 360-8994
* Brad Bartlett, Energy Minerals Law Center, (970) 247-9334

GROUPS DEMAND RECORDS ON DESERT ROCK WATER USAGE

Groups Fear Navajo Nation is Poised to Use Water from San Juan River Basin and Animas La Plata for Proposed Power Plant

DURANGO, Colo. — Water from a billion-dollar project touted by the Navajo government as a way of “providing a secure, permanent homeland for the Navajo people” and to provide potable drinking water for their homes may be diverted to run a proposed coal-fired power plant that will ship electricity to Phoenix and Las Vegas.

“ We are highly concerned that the Nation may be planning to use its water rights in the San Juan River basin to feed the Desert Rock power plant,” said Mike Eisenfeld of the San Juan Citizens Alliance. “The Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Desert Rock indicates that there may not be enough groundwater for this project. So we need to start asking the question, where are they planning to get all of this water?”

The Energy Minerals Law Center filed a Freedom of Information Act request today demanding records related to the proposed Desert Rock Energy Project’s water usage. The FOIA request was sent to federal Bureau of Indian Affair’s regional director, Omar Bradley, on the behalf of Diné Citizens Against Ruining our Environment (C.A.R.E.) and the San Juan Citizens Alliance.

The President of the Navajo Nation, Joe Shirley, is lobbying Congressional lawmakers to approve the San Juan River water settlement and provide funding for the project. The Northwest New Mexico Water Projects Act – Senate Bill 1171 – would provide $1 billion in taxpayer money to build the pipeline from the San Juan River and the Animas La Plata Project (located just south of Durango, Colo.) to reservation lands where the proposed Desert Rock Energy Project would be located.

Desert Rock will need approximately 4,950 acre feet (1.6 billion gallons) of water annually for the next 50 years to operate. A Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Desert Rock is now out for public review.

According to the Desert Rock DEIS, “on-site water wells” would be the most “ logical way” to supply water to Desert Rock (DEIS at 4-41). However, the analysis also keeps the door open to using “alternative sources of water,” which the BIA claims “are available and could be conveyed to the site, if needed.” (DEIS at 4-43).

“The entire DEIS is about approving surface and water use agreements between the Navajo Nation and Desert Rock Energy Company in the DEIS,” said Energy Minerals Law Center attorney Brad Bartlett, “and yet none of these leases have been released to the public. The public has no idea what deals the agency is actually approving.

“ Desert Rock and the BIA have refused to make water use plans and leases available to the public before the DEIS is finalized and before the Navajo Nation’s water settlement is authorized by Congress,” he said.

The Northwest New Mexico Rural Water Projects Act would authorize the Navajo Nation to divert more than 35,000 acre-feet of water from the Navajo Reservoir and the San Juan River. A water pumping station would be placed in Kirtland, just north of the proposed Desert Rock project. Water would be pumped along Highway 491 through the Desert Rock project area.

Even though the Navajo government is touting the project on grounds that it will help individual Navajos, the bill before Congress also would authorize the Nation to use the water “for municipal, industrial, commercial, domestic, and stock watering purposes.”

The Act would also authorize conveyance of Animas-La Plata Project (approximately 4,600 acre feet) via pipeline to the Desert Rock Project Area. The bill is being sponsored by Senator Jeff Bingaman (S.1171) and Congressperson Tom Udall (H.R. 1970).

“ This water should be for the Navajo people, not a massive energy project”, said Dailan Long of Diné C.A.R.E. “Many Navajo people living in this area do not have running water or electricity. If the Nation is planning on handing the people’s water over to the energy industry we need to know now. Why is our government keeping us in the dark on this?”

Legislation currently pending before Congress does not prohibit the Nation from using this water for the proposed power plant, said Eisenfeld. “We call on Congress to put this legislation on hold at least until the BIA releases the agreements being approved between the Navajo Nation and Desert Rock. We need to get to the bottom of this.”

The House Natural Resources Committee, Subcommittee on Water and Power will hold a hearing on the Northwest New Mexico Rural Water Projects Act on Tuesday, July 24, 2007. Committee members include Rep. Mark Udall (D-Colo.).

Congressional Contact Information:

U.S. Rep. John Salazar (D-Colo.), ph. 202-225-4761
U.S. Rep. Mark Udall (D-Colo.), ph. 202-225-2161
U.S. Rep. Tom Udall (D-NM), ph. 202-225-6190