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USGS report says Navajo aquifer is 'healthy'

Black Mesa on the Navajo Nation in Arizona.
Jon Mason
/
USGS
Black Mesa

The U.S. Geological Survey published its annual accounting of the Navajo aquifer which underlies Black Mesa on the Navajo Nation. The aquifer supplies drinking water to Kayenta, Tuba City and the Hopi villages.

The USGS has monitored the levels in several dozen wells tapped into the Navajo aquifer since the 1970s.

Hydrologist Jon Mason, who authored the report, says the data show the aquifer is “healthy.”

"It’s really high-quality water, too, which is unusual for a desert, so it’s a really amazing aquifer. And it’s still intact. There’s still a lot of water there to be used if they want to use it," he says.

Peabody Coal Company pumped water from the Navajo aquifer for a coal slurry line until 2005. Wells drilled into parts of the aquifer that are “confined,” or under pressure, show a downward trend until that year. Their levels are now rebounding. Wells drilled into unconfined parts of the aquifer, which show the actual groundwater level, have held steady over the past half-century.

Melissa joined KNAU's team in 2015 to report on science, health, and the environment. Her work has appeared nationally on NPR and been featured on Science Friday. She grew up in Tucson, Arizona, where she fell in love with the ecology and geology of the Sonoran desert.