A break in a massive pipe that supplies irrigation water to the largest farm on the Navajo Nation is a step closer to being repaired with the delivery of a new section of concrete piping.
The decades-old pipe broke May 13, cutting water to 72,000 acres of farmland in northwestern New Mexico. Many of the crops on the land managed by the Navajo Agricultural Products Industry had just been planted.
Officials said Monday that the delivery of the 17-foot-diameter pipe from a manufacturing plant in Yuma, Arizona, means they are on track to finish repairs by June 11. The pipe was trucked from Yuma and arrived Sunday afternoon. Installation is already underway.
The canal and pipe system delivers water to the farm from the San Juan River through Navajo Dam.
