Federal contract advances Navajo-Gallup water pipeline project

A $75.5 million federal contract moved another stretch of the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project into construction, with Flatland Energy Services LLC set to build the Block 2-3 pipeline horizontal directional drilling work between the Frank Chee Willetto Reservoir and the San Juan Lateral Water Treatment Plant. The segment starts about 17 miles east of Shiprock, New Mexico, placing the work squarely in a corridor that matters to families, chapters and local governments across the Navajo side of the region.

For Apache County readers, the contract is more than a procurement notice. It is another costly step in a system meant to replace uncertainty with dependable water service, something that affects public health, housing stability and the pace of economic development in nearby communities that have long lived with hauling, rationing or unreliable access. The Bureau of Reclamation said the project is designed to serve about 250,000 people in the eastern Navajo Nation, the southwestern portion of the Jicarilla Apache Nation and Gallup, New Mexico.

The project itself has been on the books for decades. Congress authorized construction through the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, and Reclamation says construction began in 2012. The underlying planning stretches back to feasibility-study authority from Public Law 92-199 in December 1971, underscoring how long the region has waited for a permanent water system. Reclamation says the buildout will include about 300 miles of pipeline, 19 pumping plants and two water treatment plants.

The latest contract lands at a moment when the San Juan Lateral is more than 70% complete, according to Reclamation. Initial water deliveries are expected in late 2028, with full completion by the end of 2029. That deadline was extended to December 31, 2029, through an agreement involving the U.S. Department of the Interior, the Navajo Nation and the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission.

Work on affected San Juan Lateral features was paused in 2019 while officials evaluated whether to incorporate facilities from the San Juan Generating Station. Reclamation completed acquisition of those facilities in May 2023 and is now folding them into the project design, another sign that the pipeline remains in a heavy construction phase rather than a finished system. Reclamation describes the water supply project as a cornerstone of the Navajo Nation Water Rights Settlement in the San Juan River Basin, and the real measure of success will be whether that settlement finally translates into steady water at the tap.