The Navajo Indian Irrigation Project (NIIP) ( nv, ) is a large agricultural development located in the northwest corner of

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...

. The NIIP is one of the largest Native American owned and operated agricultural businesses in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. This venture finds its origins in the 1930s when the federal government was looking for economic development for the

Navajo Nation The Navajo Nation ( nv, Naabeehó Bináhásdzo), also known as Navajoland, is a Native Americans in the United States, Native American Indian reservation, reservation in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwe ...

. The NIIP was approved in 1962 by

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

. The

Bureau of Reclamation The Bureau of Reclamation, and formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it applies to the oversight and opera ...

received the task of constructing this project. The water supply is provided by

Navajo Lake Navajo Lake is a reservoir located in San Juan County and Rio Arriba County in northwestern New Mexico, in the southwestern United States. Portions of the reservoir extend into Archuleta County in southern Colorado. The lake is part of the ...

, the reservoir formed behind

Navajo Dam Navajo Dam is a dam on the San Juan River, a tributary of the Colorado River, in northwestern New Mexico in the United States. The high earthen dam is situated in the foothills of the San Juan Mountains about upstream and east of Farmingto ...

on the San Juan River. Water is transported southwest and distributed via of main canals and of laterals. The project service area is composed of the high benchlands south of

Farmington Farmington may refer to: Places Canada *Farmington, British Columbia *Farmington, Nova Scotia (disambiguation) United States * Farmington, Arkansas *Farmington, California * Farmington, Connecticut *Farmington, Delaware * Farmington, Georgia ...

, which experience an arid climate. Originally designed to provide jobs for Native American family farms the project has transformed into a large corporate entity. The project was authorized on June 13, 1962 for the irrigation of , and construction began in 1964. The canal systems and most of the drainage systems were completed by the end of 1977, and farmland was gradually brought into production in "blocks" averaging . As of 2011, seven blocks totaling of farmland were irrigated, with an eighth block under development. The project is entitled to of San Juan River water each year.

References

Irrigation projects Irrigation in the United States Geography of the Navajo Nation United States Bureau of Reclamation Colorado River Storage Project {{Navnat-stub