Navajo Nation President聽Russell Begaye will uphold restrictions on using water from New Mexico's San Juan River for farming purposes for at least one year, . The Environmental Protection Agency聽declared that pollutant levels in the river had returned to normal聽on August 15,聽ten days after聽3 million gallons of hazardous waste leaked from the Gold King mine聽near Silverton, Colorado, into the Animas and San Juan rivers. But many farmers in the Navajo Nation, who use the river for livestock and irrigation,聽remain concerned about the water quality in聽the San Juan River.
鈥淧lease understand this is very stressful for them, and this is their livelihood,鈥 Megan Cox, a spokesperson from the Navajo Nation president鈥檚 office, . 鈥淭hey are growing organic crops and do not want to harm the land, their crops or any individuals by exposure to these chemicals.鈥
At a meeting on Saturday, Begaye discussed聽reopening canals accessed by the farmers聽in Shiprock, New Mexico. The farmers voted 104-0,聽with nine abstaining,聽in favor of maintaining existing closures for another year.
鈥淣o testing has been done on the Navajo reservation,鈥 Joe Ben Jr., Shiprock鈥檚 farm board representative, told the Guardian. 鈥淎nd the tests were not disclosed; which metals were present? If we knew, we could make a decision.鈥
聽Navajo Nation farmers intend to gather water from water hauling companies contracted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.