FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe
Phone: 928-212-9794
Date: March 11, 2025
U.S. CONGRESS REINTRODUCES THE NORTHEASTERN ARIZONA INDIAN WATER RIGHTS SETTLEMENT ACT, RATIFYING THE 2000 TREATY & ESTABLISHING THE SAN JUAN SOUTHERN PAIUTE RESERVATION
TUBA CITY, ARIZONA – March 11, 2025 –
Senators Mark Kelly and Senator Ruben Gallego along with Congressman Juan Ciscomani, and Congressman Greg Stanton, introduced legislation to authorize the Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement Act (NAIWRSA). “On behalf of the current and past tribal leadership, I want to thank Senator Mark Kelly and Senator Ruben Gallego, Congressman Juan Ciscomani, Congressman Greg Stanton, Congressman Eli Crane, Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari, Congressman Paul Gosar, Congressman David Schweikert and Congressman Raul Grijalva for their deep commitment to achieving water settlements in Arizona,” said Carlene Yellowhair, President of the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe. “Passage of the Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement Act will bring clean and reliable drinking water into our homes and an influx of economic opportunities never before possible for our Tribe,” she said.
The NAIWRSA will preserve the water rights for each of the three tribes including rights to the Colorado River. It provides funding for infrastructure and other purposes; and it provides for the construction of the iina ba – paa tuwaqat’si pipeline which will bring water from Lake Powell to all three reservations.
President Yellowhair commented, “This is a truly historic moment for our Tribe and for our sister tribes. I am grateful for the tireless work of the generations who came before us that made this settlement possible. Clean, running water and permanent homes are luxuries our people have gone too long without. Passage of this bill will ensure these basic human rights now and into the future.”
For the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, the NAIWRSA goes far beyond the quantification of water rights and support for long lasting infrastructure. The NAIWRSA will ratify a treaty between the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe and the Navajo Nation which will create the San Juan Southern Paiute Reservation.
For decades the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe have sought to have the 2000 Treaty ratified by Congress. As part of the NAIWRSA, the Tribes’ treaty will be ratified by congress. The San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe and its people will finally have their exclusive homeland.
Johnny Lehi Jr., Vice President of the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe commented, “Working together for the benefit of all three of our tribes is a monumental achievement. This Legislation establishes our homeland, ensures our water rights and provides for secure infrastructure. It has been a long time coming and we are excited about the new challenges and opportunities that will surely follow."
Generations of San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe have persevered for years for recognition and an exclusive reservation on their ancestral land. These long years without a homeland will soon come to an end with the passage of the NAIWRSA.
"I only wish that some of our elders who worked so hard on this for so many years could be here to see our treaty ratified and our exclusive reservation established,” said Johnny Lehi, Jr., Vice President of the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe. “We owe our gratitude to those who came before us and fought so tirelessly so that we could have a brighter future."
The San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe is a federally recognized Indian Tribe located in northern Arizona and southern Utah.
