The Navajo Nation — located within parts of Utah, Arizona and New Mexico — has long fought for water access, especially since it was excluded from the Colorado River Compact in 1922. Over a century later, only about half of the homes of the now 6,000 members on the Utah portion of the reservation have running water and indoor plumbing.

The Navajo Nation has separate agreements with the federal government.

The Utah Seventh Judicial District Court on Jan. 31 determined and adjudicated all Navajo Nation rights to the use of surface and underground water in the state and fully incorporated the Navajo Nation/State of Utah Water Rights Settlement Agreement.