'Citizen army' marching on Window Rock
Group wants to stop 'water grab'

By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — The C Aquifer for Diné, a grassroots group opposing use of the aquifer's water to slurry coal from Black Mesa Mine, is coming to town for the Navajo Nation Council Spring Session armed with a petition "to stop the Navajo water grab."

C Aquifer for Diné President Calvin Johnson, Vice President Laura Chee, and adviser Anna Marie Frazier, said Navajos from throughout the western and central portions of the reservation came together Sunday at Leupp Chapter House and expressed total opposition to recently disclosed plans to pump and pipe Navajo groundwater from the C-Aquifer for industrial use associated with Peabody Western Coal Co.'s Black Mesa Mine.

The grassroots group, dedicated to preservation and protection of the C-aquifer, said Navajo residents from Leupp and neighboring communities organized under the umbrella of Diné Care. The new organization received the support of To Nizhoni Ani, another Navajo grassroots group defending the use of the Navajo Aquifer on Black Mesa.

Citizen army
"Together, these organizations and communities will converge on Window Rock for the Spring Session of the Navajo Nation Council, which is expected to consider the recent plans to dewater the C-Aquifer for coal transportation purposes,"according to Frazier.

"The united citizen army of Navajoland will also take Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley to task for his lead role in developing these plans and agreeing to drop a tribal lawsuit against Peabody for short-changing the tribe in coal royalties by $600 million," she said.

The Leupp Chapter and other local self-governing communities in the Western Navajo Agency have passed resolutions in recent years opposing the planned depletion of the C-Aquifer, "and, in fact, have had several meetings with President Shirley to address these critical concerns. Yet, Dr. Shirley has proceeded ahead with the secret negotiations and planning," the group said.

"And now the C Aquifer for Diné are coming to town, armed with (a) petition to stop the Navajo water grab in Window Rock come Spring Session 2006." The session begins April 17.

The group said the C-Aquifer plans were the result of years of secret negotiations conducted behind closed doors by Southern California Edison, Peabody, Salt River Project, the Navajo Nation and the Hopi Tribe.

The Department of Interior facilitated the private mediation sessions in which affected Navajo communities were not even invited to the table, they said.

'Critical mistake
But it's not just the Diné who have begun to question the high-level negotiations between the power companies and the tribes. Former Hopi Vice Chairman Caleb Johnson said a recent issue of the Hopi newspaper, Tututveni, reported on a draft of the coal and water lease agreements which Hopi Tribal Chairman Ivan Sidney was negotiating with Mohave stakeholders.

"Apparently, it was not to be released, but fortunately someone got a copy of it," Johnson said.

One item of major importance to the Hopi Tribe, according to Johnson, was an agreement by the Hopi and Navajo tribes "to drop existing lawsuits and waive all possible past, present and future legal claims for damage to groundwater."

"If this is the case, I would say that this was a critical mistake" by Chairman Sidney and President Shirley, according to Johnson.

"Peabody Coal has always been most interested in this for two reasons," he said. "A lawsuit was filed by the Navajo Tribe against Peabody about 10 years ago. The Hopi Tribe, later on, joined in this lawsuit. Should the tribes be successful, this would bring to the tribes $600 million.

"Then there is another lawsuit, the RICO case, which would bring in three times that amount. According to the article, the agreement states that these cases will be dismissed with prejudice when Mohave returns to service. What this means is that these lawsuits will never be put in court again," Johnson said.

Level with the people
"My impression after the recent election of the Hopi chairman was that this negotiating effort to reopen Mohave power plant had been terminated with Mr. Wayne Taylor's defeat.

"In addition, my impression was that the Hopi people were in complete agreement with the goal of the Black Mesa Trust to close the Mohave power plant for good in order to save the water for our home use," Johnson said.

"In my opinion, the chairman of the Hopi Tribe and the president of the Navajo Tribe have made a critical mistake. I challenge both of them to visit every Hopi village and Navajo chapter and level with the common people on this issue.

"When Mr. Sidney was elected, he made a commitment to the people that he would keep them informed. As to this date, he has not kept this promise," Johnson said.

"In addition, the president of the Navajo Nation is up for re-election and I would suggest that he also level with his people. These elected leaders can no longer hide behind the door of confidentiality. The draft is out and there is no good news in it for the two tribes," he said.