The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in late January approved the Navajo Nation’s application to manage the water quality standards on their reservation.
The new agreement, which is the result of nearly five years of conferral between the EPA, the Navajo Nation, and the four states that border the reservation, recognizes the tribe’s authority to enact environmental standards that have an impact beyond reservation borders.
While the agreement does not give the Navajos authority to allow or deny federally permitted activities that may harm waters on their reservation, it does, for the first time, give them a voice in such projects’ implementation.
If a state wants to build a project that may affect waters running into the 27,000-square-mile reservation, the state must consult with the Navajo Nation before taking action. After reviewing a state’s plan, Navajo leaders may comment and suggest changes to their projects if the plan is found to be detrimental to the water supply.
Gwendell Smith, the EPA’s regional Water Quality Program Manager for the Pacific Southwest, Smith told Cultural Survival that this approval is a considerable achievement for the Navajos, as it grants the tribe autonomy in protecting their lands.
"In theory, the government should be protecting [the Navajo Nation], but de facto, up until this, they never consulted them about water standards," Smith explained. "This agreement provides more role and responsibility for the Navajos."
Patrick Antonio, Principal Hydrologist for the Navajo Nation EPA, concurs that the grant is a significant accomplishment for the Navajos, as it gives them more autonomy. He says that the tribe has, in fact, already been operating under the new quality measurements. "We’ve had our standards in place since 1999," Antonio says, "when we first applied [for the grant], but they just weren’t recognized. Now they are."
To set their standards, Navajo leaders first designated each body of water on the reservation for specific uses, including domestic water supply, swimming, boating, fishing, livestock use, and irrigation.
They then selected quantifiable criteria, such as the amount of oxygen per milliliter of water and the amount of permissible floating substances.
The Navajo Nation is 34th out of 563 tribes nationwide to be approved to administer water quality standards. Other approved tribes include the Hualapai Tribe of Arizona, the Mole Lake Band of Lake Superior Chippewa of Wisconsin, and the Hoopa Valley Tribe of California.
The EPA is currently reviewing an application from the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.
