It took nearly 25 years to figure out how to supply running water to homes in Westwater, a small Navajo community in southeastern Utah. … The Westwater project is one of many efforts to provide reliable water to communities around the 27,000-square-mile Navajo Nation reservation, where 30%-40% of homes lack access to running water. … Building infrastructure and resolving water rights have been ongoing challenges for tribal nations in the Colorado River Basin. Together, tribes have rights to about 25% of the basin’s water, but about 12 tribes were still working to settle their water rights as of 2021, including the Navajo Nation. Settling rights is a legal step that must be done before water can be used and infrastructure built.

Other Colorado River Basin news:

• Arizona Capitol Times (Phoenix, Ariz.): Bill proposing new groundwater regulations for rural communities advances
• ICT: Hopi awarded more than $4 million for water infrastructure project
• The Daily Sentinel (Grand Junction, Colo.): Hurd pens letter to Interior Department urging federal funding for Shoshone Water Rights
• Foodtank: Blog: Colorado Water Plan boosted with Prop JJ Funding
• Colorado Mesa University: News release: CMU’s Ruth Powell Hutchins Water Center expands education and outreach with $110k grant