In this July 5, 2009 file photo, boaters, swimmers, and beach goers enjoy the Colorado River in the lower Colorado River basin area in Yuma, Ariz. Navajo lawmakers will consider a bill Wednesday to settle the tribe's water rights in the lower Colorado River basin that would give the Navajo Nation 31,000 acre-feet of water a year from the Colorado River. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, file)
FLAGSTAFF (AP) — Navajo lawmakers have tabled a measure to settle the tribe’s water rights in the lower Colorado River basin of northeastern Arizona.
Lawmakers held off on a vote Wednesday to allow more time for public hearings and debate among themselves. They’re expected to take up the measure again within the next two weeks.
The settlement would have given the tribe 31,000 acre-feet of water a year from the Colorado River, the unappropriated surface flows from the Little Colorado River and nearly unlimited access to two aquifers beneath the reservation.
Critics who protested at the Tribal Council chambers in Window Rock say the proposal fell short of what Navajos deserve.
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