Navajo Nation presidential candidates discuss water rights, mining in final debate
Candidates for Navajo Nation president and vice president faced off on Tuesday in the final debate before the November general election. … Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley said, if elected president, she’d continue her work to bring water to the Navajo Nation. … As speaker, Curley has advocated for congressional approval of a settlement to resolve tribes’ water rights claims. The federal deal would bring Colorado River water to the Navajo, Hopi and San Juan Southern Paiute tribes, but it’s being stalled in Congress by Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico. … Curley’s opponent, New Mexico-based attorney Justin Jones, pointed out that Congress’s window to approve the deal is rapidly closing. … He continued: “We need to do some serious lobbying, not only in Washington but also in the Upper and Lower Colorado [Basin] compacts and commissions.”
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