The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) continues construction on the $2.3 billion Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project that includes approximately 300 miles of pipeline, 19 pumping plants, and two water treatment plants.

“This is one of the largest projects the Reclamation has ever built,” said Bart Deming, Construction Engineer for the Reclamation’s Four Corners Construction Office. “For comparison, the Hoover Dam also is one of the largest projects the Reclamation has ever built, and if that was constructed today, it would be roughly around that dollar amount.”

The Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project will deliver a reliable municipal and industrial water supply from the San Juan River to the eastern section of the Navajo Nation, the southwestern portion of the Jicarilla Apache Nation, and the City of Gallup, New Mexico.

“Over one-third of Navajo people still haul water because there’s no drinking water in their homes,” Deming said. “Those who do have water in their homes, it’s unsustainable groundwater that continues to be depleted and not replenished with the ongoing drought in the southwestern United States. And it’s of very poor water quality, with arsenic, uranium, and other contaminants."

This project comprises two separate, independently operated water transmission systems: the Cutter Lateral and the San Juan Lateral. To manage the work, Reclamation broke each lateral into multiple reaches based on turnout locations where water is delivered to each community. Each lateral includes hundreds of miles of water transmission lines, a water treatment plant, pumping plants (six on Cutter and 13 on San Juan), and many storage tanks.

Reclamation currently is working on the northern portions of the San Juan Lateral, including construction of Reaches 4A and 4B, which include 18 miles of pipeline, Pumping Plants 2 and 3, and the San Juan Lateral Water Treatment Plant. The water treatment plant is the largest feature of the entire project and will be highlighted in the March issue of Rocky Mountain Construction.

The pumping plants and pipeline in Reaches 4A and 4B are located immediately downstream of the San Juan Water Treatment Plant.

SJ Louis Construction Inc., a general contractor specializing in underground utility construction, was awarded the $66.8 million contract to complete 18 miles of pipeline work in Reaches 4A and 4B. Pipeline in this section connects the San Juan Lateral Water Treatment Plant to the pumping plants.

Crews installed the 42-inch diameter pipeline using conventional construction methods, leveraging excavators to build trenches and Controlled Low-Strength Material slurry to embed the pipeline and eliminate the need for compaction.

“These methods are built to last,” Deming said. “This project will be needed for generations to come, so it’s built for that.”

Reaches 4A and 4B, as well as the overall project, use primarily cement mortar-lined steel pipe supplied by Northwest Pipeline. Other specified materials include high-density polyethylene where pipeline pressure allowed, PVC, and some fiberglass.

“When we spec out each pipeline contract, we let the market dictate the best and most cost-effective pipe material,” Deming said. “It depends on the diameter of the pipe and pressure requirements, but the steel industry is what has been able to meet most of our needs.”

SJ Louis Construction also completed 17 miles of pipeline in Reaches 12.1 and 12.2.

Construction is progressing on Pumping Plants 2 and 3 that will move water south from the San Juan Water Treatment Plant on the San Juan Lateral. Archer Western Construction LLC, which specializes in the building, transportation, and water sectors, was awarded the $73.1 million contract in September 2022 to build both pumping plants. Archer Western constructed two additional pumping plants on the San Juan Lateral as well, and they were involved in constructing the Cutter Lateral Water Treatment Plant.

“We feel privileged to be a part of this project that’s bringing water to the Navajo Nation,” said Jesse May, Area Manager for Archer Western. “The goal of the project is to provide potable water to people who have never had it, and we feel privileged to be part of that.”

The design and layout of all pumping stations on the San Juan Lateral are extremely similar, streamlining construction of the facilities, as well as future operations and maintenance.

“These pumping plants are designed to be as similar as possible to make O&M as simple as possible,” Deming said. “It’s important that we make these plants as cost-effective as possible, as well as simple to operate for our Navajo partners and the City of Gallup.”

Crews are wrapping up construction on both plants and expect completion by the end of February 2026. Once complete, the facilities will have the capacity to pump approximately 36 million gallons of water per day.

Reaches 4A and 4B will connect to the remainder of the San Juan Lateral, which will deliver water to the Navajo Nation in western New Mexico; Gallup, New Mexico; and Window Rock, Arizona.

“Because of the number of people served, the San Juan Lateral is bigger than the Cutter Lateral,” Deming said. “But the amount of water on a per-capita basis is the same.”

The project team initially expected to finish the San Juan Lateral in 2024. In 2024, that date was officially extended to 2029 because Reclamation was able to acquire the Frank Chee Willetto Reservoir, a main feature included in the purchase of a water conveyance system from electricity provider PNM’s San Juan System in Waterflow, New Mexico. A 42-inch pipe connects the reservoir to the San Juan River.

“That feature was a game-changer for the lateral, and the reason the settlement parties, the United States, Navajo Nation, and the State of New Mexico, agreed to extend the completion deadline,” Deming said. “It provides a significant volume of storage and a really clean and consistent water supply to the water treatment plant.”

Acquiring the Frank Chee Willetto Reservoir reduced project costs by more than $70 million, and it will decrease operation and maintenance costs and risks while increasing sustainability of the San Juan Lateral. It allows the system to shut off intake from the river and live off the reservoir for at least three weeks, with six weeks expected at project completion.

Crews will connect the reservoir to the San Juan Lateral Water Treatment Plant via horizontal directional drilling and conventional open trench pipeline. Two additional contracts for that portion of the project are being bid.

Funding is a major challenge for the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project. Federal funding supports the majority of the project through:

• The Navajo Nation Water Rights Settlement in the San Juan River Basin in New Mexico
• The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
• The Reclamation Water Settlement Fund authorized in Public Law 111-11
• Discretionary Funding in appropriations approved by Congress

When Congress authorized the project in 2009, it was fast-tracked using a very preliminary Reclamation appraisal-level design and estimate, versus a more-accurate feasibility-level estimate.

At that time, Congress required Reclamation to establish a Project Construction Committee that meets quarterly with stakeholders to discuss design updates and construction challenges and ask for their input. Though the team worked hard to stay on budget, they realized they could not complete the entire project within the authorized amount, $870 million in 2007 dollars or $1.495 billion in 2024 dollars, after completing the Cutter Lateral Water Treatment Plant.

After a value planning study was unable to achieve the necessary cost savings to stay within the cost ceiling, project stakeholders worked with Congress to draft legislation to raise the appropriation ceiling to reflect the true cost of the project, among other provisions. That legislation, known as the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project Amendments Act, was introduced in the 117th Congress and reintroduced in the 118th and 119th Congress.

“We found we were too far along on the project, and cost increases that couldn't be anticipated in 2007 were too great,” Deming said.

The stakeholders recently went back to Congress to request an additional $600 million.

“We still have federal funding from the Reclamation Water Settlement Fund set aside for the project, and we've been using it to continue design and construction,” Deming said. “But by April, the project will need additional funding to stay on schedule toward the statutory December 31, 2029, deadline.”

“Having a grounded cost estimate before stakeholders go to Congress for legislation is very critical,” Deming said. “Make sure estimates are at the feasibility level. There’s no on-the-ground work done at the appraisal level, so it carries much more cost risk than a feasibility-level design, which includes geologic data.

“An estimate at the feasibility level would involve geologic investigations through drilling and test pitting with excavators. It also would include a lot of site work, and even some preliminary cultural resource work, so you have a better idea of the cost before Congress authorizes the project.”

Currently, 235 miles of the 300 total miles in the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project are complete, 50 miles are under contract, and approximately 15 miles are yet to begin.

“The Cutter Lateral is 98 percent complete and has been operational since October 2020,” Deming said. “Water is being delivered to 6,200 people in eight Navajo Nation chapters and the southwest area of the Jicarilla Apache Nation.”

Once fully complete, the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project will deliver 37,761 acre-feet of water from the San Juan Basin per year, with approximately 4,645 acre-feet flowing through the Cutter Lateral and 33,116 acre-feet flowing through the San Juan Lateral. The San Juan Lateral will return nearly 2,000 acre-feet of water to the San Juan River per year.

Later stages of the project will deliver the following improvements:

• Pumping Plant 1 will move water from the Frank Chee Willetto Reservoir to the San Juan Water Treatment Plant.
• The San Juan River Intake Pumping Plant will divert water from the San Juan River to the Frank Chee Willetto Reservoir.
• The pipeline in Reaches 2 and 3 will move water from the Frank Chee Willetto Reservoir to the water treatment plant.
• Improvements will be made to the Frank Chee Willetto Reservoir, which was constructed more than 50 years ago.
Project Partners
• Owner: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Washington, D.C.
• Water Treatment Plant Construction and Design: Jacobs Project Management, Dallas, Texas
• Pumping Plant Construction: Archer Western Construction LLC, Chicago, Illinois
• Pipeline Construction: SJ Louis Construction Inc., Rockville, Minnesota
• Pipe Provider: Northwest Pipeline, Tulsa, Oklahoma
• Project Participants: Navajo Nation, Jicarilla Apache Nation, City of Gallup, State of New Mexico, United States of America
Editor’s Note: Part two of the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project story will continue in the March issue, highlighting the largest project component: The San Juan Lateral Water Treatment Plant.