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A landmark water rights agreement is expected to be approved by the Flagstaff City Council this week, as the Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement Agreement works its way toward approval in Washington, D.C.

The agreement outlines the long-standing rights of the Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe, and San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe to surface water and groundwater sources across northern Arizona and the Colorado Plateau.

Due to Flagstaff’s Red Gap Ranch project -- which the city purchased in 2005 with $15 million of voter-approved bonds -- the city is one of the parties linked to the settlement. Among those aspects of the settlement is a provision that would divert some of the water from Red Gap Ranch to involved tribes.

As such, the city, along with Congress and the involved tribes, must choose to ratify the agreement.

In May, the settlement was approved by the Navajo Nation, the Hopi Tribe, and the San Juan Southern Paiute.

Tribal officials who worked on the settlement said that given the uncertainty in the upcoming election, they are hopeful the effort sees congressional action this year.

Navajo Hydrologist Robert Kirk spoke to a meeting of the Coconino Plateau Water Advisory Council on Friday in regard to the settlement.

That council includes representatives from several northern Arizona communities, conservation groups and local agencies.

“Let alone a [settlement] for one tribe, it's really a humongous task for three tribes, and a comprehensive settlement is a huge feat within itself,� Kirk told the advisory council. “For Native American tribes or Indigenous tribes, water is the essential piece for our livelihood.�

This is not the first effort to settle water rights for the involved tribes, ever since they were left out of the 1922 negotiation between states that determined water rights within the Colorado River basin.

“From the Navajo Nation standpoint, [this settlement offers] real water in Navajo homes. As you know, about 30-35% of our Navajo population still does not have running water in their homes,� Kirk said. “That’s a huge amount of our tribal members that still don't have any water.�

And Kirk said the lack of water is also a significant challenge for economic growth on tribal lands, and for keeping young tribal members from leaving for nearby non-tribal cities.

Kirk added that they expect the settlement will allow the tribe to make real ground in providing access to water across the Navajo Nation in Arizona.

He pointed to a water settlement between the Navajo Nation and the State of New Mexico that was authorized in 2009. In the wake of that settlement, which provided access to water to the tribe that was previously unavailable, new water infrastructure projects have allowed the tribe to connect many more members with running water.

That effort is only about a third of the way complete, he said.

Those improvements, however, have not been seen in the Arizona portion of the Navajo Nation, Kirk said. This settlement could change that, he added.

Red Gap Ranch

City officials in Flagstaff have long looked to the 8,500 acres of Red Gap Ranch to provide water to Flagstaff as it grows into the future. According to city documents, Red Gap Ranch could be expected to provide the city with as much as 12,000 acre-feet of water per year.

So far, Flagstaff has spent $11 million in purchasing the property, and in developing engineering and feasibility studies for the project, as well as drilling several wells.

Under the settlement, Red Gap Ranch will also provide water to the Navajo Nation and Hopi, and looks to tie into the Navajo Nation’s Southwest Navajo Regional Groundwater Project.

That project is designed to provide water to tribal communities in the area, including Leupp, Dilkon, Birdsprings, Indian Wells, Teesto and Tolani Lake.

In a statement to the Arizona Daily Sun earlier this year, city spokesperson Sarah Langley said the settlement outlines that the city will provide up to 1,500 acre-feet of water annually from Red Gap Ranch to tribes.

Of that, 1,000 acre-feet a year will go to the Navajo Nation while 500 acre-feet is directed to the Hopi, according to Langley.

With the city already planning to construct a pipeline from Red Gap Ranch to Flagstaff, the city will also now include spurs off of the pipeline to deliver water to the tribes.

The settlement also sets up a buffer area around the Navajo Nation, where new wells tapping into the Coconino Aquifer may be limited. That is designed to prevent extensive pumping of water near tribal lands -- which could deplete the aquifer under those lands.

For the most part, Red Gap Ranch appears to fall within that buffer area, but is grandfathered in, within the settlement agreement.