Cultural Resources Survey of the Ganado Irrigation System and 40 Farm Plots, Navajo Indian Reservation, Arizona: Report

The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and Navajo Nation Department of Water Resources (NNDWR), in conjunction with other Federal and local entities prepared and evaluated alternatives for improving water management, conservation, and distribution within the Ganado Irrigation System. The resulting recommendations are termed the Ganado Irrigation Water Conservation Project (GIWCP), whose purpose is to develop a system that will enable the efficient conveyance of irrigation water to farmland and promote on-farm water conservation measures.
The proposed new conveyance system would replace the existing earthen canal with a combination of buried pipeline and concrete-lined canal. This would provide a cost-effective, highly efficient method of conveying irrigation water to agricultural fields within the Ganado irrigation System. Redevelopment of the system proposed under GIWCP would extend irrigation capability to 637 acres, all of which have previously been or are being farmed.
BIA has trust asset jurisdiction over the Ganado Irrigation System, and they contracted with Reclamation through an Interagency Agreement to conduct a cultural resource survey of the Ganado Irrigation System. Reclamation, in turn, contracted with Archaeological Consulting Services, Ltd. (ACS), of Tempe, Arizona, to conduct a Class III survey of the irrigation canal right-of-way and approximately 50 acres of proposed work areas adjacent to the canal. ACS conducted this field work under Navajo Nation Cultural Resources Investigation Permit No. B00195, written permission from James J. Hooper, III, the Chief Operating Officer of the Sage Memorial Hospital, and with verbal permission from Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site.
This document presents the results of the survey. The photos associated with that project can be found at tDAR ID: 393860