To’hajiilee Water Crisis
To’hajiilee has Native Water Rights
(Keywords: tribal sovereignty, indigenous water claims, water rights, Winters Doctrine, water infrastructure, COVID19)
Pueblo Action Alliance stands with Navajo Nation and To’hajiilee Chapter for the fight to access clean drinking water. We support tribal sovereignty, nation to nation consultation and the right to clarify and settle indigenous water claims in the Southwest.
To’hajiilee Chapter, a Navajo chapter west of Albuquerque off I-40, has a community of 2,000 tribal members who are fighting to have their water right allocation rightfully delivered. The community is currently in a water crisis due to the failure of 5 out of their 6 groundwater wells. The remaining water is so corrosive and heavy (meaning containing heavy minerals like calcium or fluoride) that there have been three service outages in the past five years.
“My only initiative is just getting that waterline to our community, and I don’t see what the problem is,” said Mark Begaye, the To’hajiilee Chapter President.
Why hasn't a water transmission pipeline been constructed for the community? Because the developer, Western Albuquerque Land Holdings, is infringing on Navajo water rights. Western Albuquerque Lands Holding (WALH), is infringing on native water rights by stalling a 7.3 mile water transmission pipeline from the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (ABCWUA) to To'hajiilee Chapter. WALH has been known to leverage water infrastructure development. The Santolina Development Project west of Albuquerque has also been at odds with WAHL for years.
In August, Bernalillo County Commissioner Steven Michael Quezada had put together a task force to facilitate discussions which were taken over by State Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto. WAHL representative Tim Carroll would not provide specific details of the proposal in a Albuquerque journal interview, but Debbie O’Malley (District 1) said Ivey-Soto this week discussed a $2 million idea with county attorneys.
WAHL has been pressuring Navajo Nation to give the Water Utility $2 million of their CARES Act money to develop infrastructure at the western most tank. Even during a pandemic, WAHL is leveraging Navajo Nation as they need to spend this funding by Dec 30.
District 1 County Commissioner Debbie O’Malley said she would like to see the county issue a condemnation on the section of easement for the water transmission pipeline. The section of easement for the water transmission line must be condemned by Bernalillo County in order for Navajo Nation to receive their rightful allocation of water to the To’hajiilee community.
Bottom line, WAHL and local governmental entities are infringing on native water rights. Navajo Nation has secured water rights through the Winters Doctrine; a supreme court ruling that clarified indigenous water rights in the west. The To’hajiilee water crisis is an example of private developers and local governments infringing on tribal sovereignty and the human right to access clean water.
Stand with To’hajiilee in their fight to access clean drinking water as this could also affect the water supply for the neighboring indigenous communities of Laguna and Acoma Pueblo.
If this was an oil pipeline, it would have been constructed years ago.
This crisis begs the larger question of “Why is it indigenous communities don't have water infrastructure?” Many other communities in NM face water crises, of which have gotten worse during the COVID19 global pandemic.The Indigenous water crisis in the Southwest is further expatriated by the lack of water infrastructure. Without water, how can we tend the land? Without water, how can we thrive on our ancestral homelands? We can’t have #landback without #waterback.
In order for Indigenous communities to declare their independence from the US Empire, we have to develop our own infrastructure to ensure we have clean water for the future. We must look for solutions to severe our dependence from federal assistance that infringe on our tribal sovereignty and self-determination.
Sources:
Baca, Barbara. “OPINION: To'hajiilee Has Water Rights That Must Be Honored.” Albuquerque Journal, 31 Aug. 2020, www.abqjournal.com/1491693/tohajiilee-has-water-rights-that-must-be-honored.html
Begay, Mark. “OPINION: To'hajiilee Braces for Pandemic amid Water Crisis.” Albuquerque Journal, 17 Aug. 2020, www.abqjournal.com/1487015/tohajiilee-braces-for-pandemic-amid-water-crisis.html
Chamberlain, Kendra. “A 'Humanitarian Crisis': To'Hajiilee's Aquifer Is Running out of Water.” The NM Political Report, 1 Sept. 2020, nmpoliticalreport.com/2020/09/01/a-humanitarian-crisis-tohajiilees-aquifer-is-running-out-of-water/
Dyer, Jessica. “County Offers Deal for Water Pipeline Easement.” Albuquerque Journal, 23 Oct. 2020, www.abqjournal.com/1510114/county-offers-deal-for-water-pipeline-easement.html
Keane, Colleen. “To'hajiilee's Fresh Water Blocked - County Steps In.” Navajo Times, 13 July 2020, navajotimes.com/reznews/tohajiilees-fresh-water-blocked-county-steps-in/
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 4, 2020
Contact:
Laurie Weahkee
Friends of To'hajiilee denounce Western Albuquerque Land Holdings (WALH) demand for $2 million dollars in CARES Funding from Navajo Nation
ALBUQUERQUE, NM-Virtual Press Conference on Thursday Nov 4, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. MDT
The Friends of To'hajiilee coalition will host a virtual press conference to denounce WALH’s attempts to hold up water for To'hajiilee families unless they turn over federal CARES Act money for WALH’s massive westside development. WALH rejected Bernalillo County’s offer to purchase the easement for a water pipeline to provide water to To'hajiilee.
WALH is standing in the way of clean water to the 2,000 member To'hajiilee Navajo community. Friends of To'hajiilee are outraged that WALH is denying clean water—particularly during the COVID pandemic—to the Navajo Nation. Instead of the $40,000 offer from the County that was based on an appraiser, WALH is demanding the $2 million that To'hajiilee received from the federal CARES Act to assist communities impacted by the pandemic.
“We are deeply offended that WALH expects Navajo families to fund WALH’s private, multi- million dollar Santolina development. It’s incomprehensible that WALH chooses to hold water and the To'hajiilee community hostage during the Coronavirus pandemic. They could end this problem today if they were serious about being community-minded.”
The Friends of To'hajiilee have decided that it is time to organize against WALH’s unfair and outrageous demands.
Friends of To’hajiilee is a group of Native American-led community-based organizations, with support from social, economic and environmental justice groups.