Interior Secretary to sign Navajo water settlement

Eds: APNewsNow. Corrects spelling Navajo. Will be updated after 10 a.m. PST announcement.

By CRISTINA SILVA

Associated Press

LAS VEGAS (AP) u2014 Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is preparing to sign a new Navajo water agreement that quantifies the tribe's water rights in the lower Colorado River basin.

Salazar and Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley are slated to sign the agreement Friday during the Colorado River Water Users Association annual conference in Las Vegas.

Interior Department spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff says the agreement was reached in 2009, amended by Congress, and signed this year by President Obama.

Roughly 800 attendees are expected at the conference that focuses on the water-use agreement covering California, Arizona, Nevada, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. The plan affects more than 30 million people living in the West.

The theme of the conference this year is "Managing a River of Issues."