Conserving Water for the Navajo Nation with Environmental Quality Incentives Program WaterSMART Funding

Water is a precious resource to the Navajo Nation. The Navajo Agricultural Products Industry (NAPI), a tribal entity owned and operated by the Navajo Nation in San Juan County, New Mexico, is using USDA funding and technology to conserve water resources on tribal land.

USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has invested more than $173,000 in 2023 Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) contracts. These funds bring the total investment in the EQIP WaterSMART Initiative in the Navajo Nation to $2.2 million since 2016, upgrading 27 center pivots for protecting water resources on more than 4,800 acres. The sprinklers’ efficiency on these fields will increase by 25%. 

The WaterSMART Initiative is a collaboration with the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) to coordinate investments in priority areas for improving water conservation and drought resilience across the Western U.S. WaterSMART grants from Reclamation allowed NAPI to improve aging irrigation infrastructure with new sprinkler systems, underground pipelines, and soil moisture probes.  Program funding allowed NAPI to improve water delivery for crop health and reduce over-application. Improvements from the program are expected to save over 3,000 acre-feet of water annually, reducing drought impacts on crops and stream flows.

“The WaterSmart funding greatly benefits us by improving our irrigation management program,” said Roselyn Yazzie, Chief Operations Officer of NAPI, “We were able to replace old irrigation pivot systems and sprinklers with more efficient systems as well as soil moisture monitoring equipment to help us schedule irrigation as needed by the crop.”

NAPI farms grow a variety of crops including alfalfa, corn, wheat, and beans across 72,000 acres of farmland in San Juan County, with almost 700 fields under sprinkler production across their operation. Primary water delivery to the farmland is through canals from Cutter Dam Reservoir, which is supplied by the Navajo Dam Reservoir and applied by center pivot sprinkler. 

Through the WaterSMART initiative, NRCS provides EQIP participants like NAPI with resources and tools to manage soil moisture, improve irrigation water use efficiency in crop and pasture lands, and further protect irrigation water sources from depletion in communities where Reclamation has invested in water conservation projects.

In addition, NRCS’s EQIP funding helps farmers and ranchers improve soil health; reduce soil erosion, sediment, nutrient, and pathogen loss in fields; protect crop health and productivity; and make using equipment, facilities, and agricultural operations more efficient.

Learn more about the WaterSMART Initiative here and EQIP here.