Court declines to hear Navajo water dispute

From KRQE-TV.com - By Kim Vallez - ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) – New Mexico high court says it will not intervene on a dispute over allocation of San Juan River water rights to the Navajo Nation.
     Open court documents show the court denied a petition from three legislators including a San Juan County farmer who had claimed the Navajo water settlement should be invalidated because it had never gone before the legislature for approval.
     The agreement approved back in August gives enough water to the Navajo farming operation to irrigate about 40,000 acres of farmland. That’s six times the amount Albuquerque gets for a population a third of the size.
      An agreement in 1948 gave a large amount of San Juan River water to New Mexico based on the argument that the water was needed to meet the needs of the Navajo Nation living here in the state.
     State officials pointed out that the ruling in August stated that legislative approval was not required. More
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