Emergency declared for Navajo Mountain

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau

NAVAJO MOUNTAIN, Utah — Navajo Nation Vice President Ben Shelly and the Navajo Commission on Emergency Management declared a state of emergency Monday for the Navajo Mountain Chapter following a water emergency stemming from a Dec. 19 waterline break.

“The Navajo Mountain Chapter needs access to safe drinking water for its residents and livestock,” Shelly said.

“Resources must be combined to help address the immediate need for safe drinking water.”

On Sunday, Shelly and Jimson Joe, manager of the Navajo Nation Department of Emergency Management, met with San Juan County Administrator Rick Bailey and Arizona Department of Transportation workers at Navajo Mountain to assist with coordination efforts.

San Juan County, Utah, declared a state of emergency Christmas Day after a waterline from Beaver Springs broke.

“Mr. Bailey and the San Juan County Commission are the real heroes of this emergency incident,” Shelly said. “On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, he and Martin Wilson of the Utah Division of Homeland Security spent the whole day at Navajo Mountain assessing the situation and determining the needs. The Navajo Nation owes him a tremendous debt of gratitude.”

Joe said the broken water line runs from the spring to two water tanks. “It’s not broken from the water tanks to the buildings or residences. San Juan County, Utah, has been providing trucks to haul water into the two tanks and from there it goes down to serve the community.

“Snow conditions have been making it hard for trucks to go in to haul water. The difficulty was icy roads from Inscription House to Navajo Mountain,” which he said received about a foot of snow. “The water tanks are on an elevated location which also adds to the difficulty.

“The roads are opened now, but we are concerned that any more snow or rain will continue to contribute to preventing trucks from transporting water in there while we’re trying to figure out a way to resolve the water line repair.”

The county and Navajo Tribal Utility Authority coordinated efforts to haul water to the tanks that pump water to Navajo Mountain’s high school, chapter house, Indian Health Service health facility, and local housing for the community of 1,000.

Joe said the water line has been exposed since a devastating fire struck Navajo Mountain in 2006. The fire contributed to erosion of soil along the water line. “When the storm came, a mudslide caused the water line to break. The water line is run above ground. That problem has contributed to what we have now.”