new mexico tribal construction and infrastructure projects get funding

More than two dozen construction and infrastructure projects submitted earlier this year to state lawmakers by the New Mexico Department of Indian Affairs have been approved for funding.

Those projects, agreed to by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, stand in contrast to the just over 90 projects submitted by that same agency that were ultimately vetoed by the Governor.

The largest outlay at $3 million is going for the construction of an emergency respond command center at the Navajo Nation’s Shiprock chapter.

That project, which has been long in the planning stage and is expected to ultimately cost $12 million to build, will go up on the south side of the San Juan River.

Exactly $2 million will fund a variety of housing improvements at the Santo Domingo Pueblo in Sandoval County.

The Jicarilla Apache Nation in Rio Arriba County has been approved for $1.4 million in funding for the Cutter Lateral section of the larger Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project.

Some $567,000 is going for a powerline expansion project at the Navajo Nation’s Tse’ii’ahi’Chapter in McKinley County, while a new water well project at the Navajo Nation’s Alamo Chapter in Socorro County is receiving $500,000 in state funds.

Among the largest projects submitted by Indian Affairs but subsequently vetoed by the Governor is $2.3 million for the construction of a new fire station at the Laguna Pueblo in Cibola County; and $2 million for the construction of the Walatowa Head Start Center at the Jemez Pueblo in Sandoval County.
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The Governor, in a message to lawmakers, pointed out that altogether she had given her approval to around $19 million in various tribal construction and infrastructure projects.

By Garry Boulard

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