White Mountain tribe pursues water project

WASHINGTON — A White Mountain Apache leader told House members Thursday that the tribe desperately needs to “replace the failing and terminal groundwater well system,” but that current Interior Department regulations are preventing the tribe from moving forward on the project.

Tribe Vice Chairman Kasey Velasquez told a House Natural Resources subcommittee that Interior officials do not oppose the project, but that they are not sure current regulations allow money from a settlement fund to be “used for the system’s cost overruns.”

The solution, the Arizona tribe says, is a one-page bill that would add 17 words to the law to clarify the situation. But Velasquez said it is needed urgently so there is no delay in work to improve the dire condition of the tribe’s critical water infrastructure.

“We must ensure its timely design and completion by resolving the cost issue within the act’s existing authorization now, not later,” he said.

But the seemingly simple change has moved at a typical Washington pace. An identical bill passed by the Senate last year never made it out of committee in the House.

Rep. Paul Gosar, R- Prescott, said Thursday that language in the latest version of the bill would “clarify the congressional intent of the settlement.” He submitted letters of support from the Salt River Project and the Arizona Department of Water Resources.

In addition to health concerns, Velasquez pointed to the economic harm his tribe of nearly 14,000 faced has suffered as a result of not having a sufficient source of clean, running water.