Repairs to Pipeline that Waters Largest Navajo Farm Finished

The local irrigation canal where George Schmitt and a friend rescued a bull elk is pictured near Bloomfield. (Farmington Daily Times/Courtesy of Audrey Fleming)

FARMINGTON, N.M. (AP) – Repairs to a pipeline that supplies water to the largest farm on the Navajo Nation are finished.

The Farmington Daily Times reports that testing will begin this weekend on the fixed pipe, which supplies water to 72,000 acres of farmland in northwestern New Mexico.

A decades-old concrete pipe failed May 13, leaving most crops deprived of water.

Many of the crops on the land are managed by the Navajo Agricultural Products Industry.

NAPI CEO Wilton Charley says operators will slowly fill the siphon with water. If testing is successful, water will be released into the canal that feeds the area.

The irrigation canal delivers water to the tribal farm from the San Juan River through Navajo Dam.

The cause of the breach remains under investigation.

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