Coverage of tribal natural resources is supported in part by Catena Foundation
The Navajo Nation declared a drought emergency recently, following a similar one issued by the state of New Mexico as severe dryness and escalating fire risk settle over the area.
Navajo Nation president Buu Nygren says he declared the state of emergency in late May, though he didn’t publicly announce it until this week.
The resolution leans on a U.S. Department of Agriculture assessment of seven counties in Arizona and New Mexico encompassing the Navajo Nation that it identified as disaster areas due to drought conditions. Those include Coconino and Navajo counties.
Nygren said 900 windmills and 7,500 stock ponds are losing capacity on the Nation. The declaration calls for more than $6 million in tribal funds to help farmers and ranchers.
More Tribal Natural Resources News
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State environmental regulators have given the owner of a uranium mine near the Grand Canyon the green light for higher levels of arsenic in groundwater under the facility. -
Colorado River Indian Tribes Chairwoman Amelia Flores met with leaders from around the world to discuss legal personhood for rivers. -
Across tribal communities in northeastern Arizona, 1 in 3 homes does not have running water. But now, there’s a way to help fix that. -
Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming are resisting the deal because it would allow the Navajo and Hopi to lease water to cities downstream, likely the growing towns around Phoenix. -
More than 56 million acres — nearly 3% of the U.S. landmass — belong to tribes. The Land and Water Conservation Fund has aided more than 47,000 projects, like parks and trails, in nearly every county nationwide.
