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Gov. Katie Hobbs signs water rights settlement agreement with Yavapai-Apache Nation

Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, center, is flanked by Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma, R-Glendale, left, and Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, right, at Hobbs' state of the state address at the Arizona Capitol in Phoenix on Jan. 9, 2023. On Friday, Jan. 13, 2023, Hobbs' office released its budget proposal, including her plan to seek a repeal of a massive expansion of Arizona's school voucher program.
Ross D. Franklin
/
AP
Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, center, is flanked by Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma, R-Glendale, left, and Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, right, in this Jan. 9, 2023 photo.

Gov. Katie Hobbs has signed off on a water rights settlement agreement with the Yavapai-Apache Nation.

The deal includes the construction of a 60-mile pipeline from C.C. Cragin Reservoir on the Mogollon Rim near Payson to the tribal nation and other communities within the Verde Valley.

It also adds more protections for the Verde River.

Yavapai-Apache Chairwoman Tanya Lewis says the settlement “ensures water certainty” for the tribe.

“We are proud to have reached this critical milestone for the Yavapai-Apache Nation and the Verde River, which is at the heart of our cultural way of life,” Lewis says.

The agreement will now go to Washington, D.C., for final Congressional approval.