San Juan County

Navajo Nation Delegate Herman Daniels Jr. of Monument Valley speaks at the Navajo Utah Water Rights Settlement event on May 27, while Senator Mitt Romney shakes hands with Council Delegate Rickie Nez. Delegate Daniels represents four chapters on the council including the Navajo Utahns of Oljato and Navajo Mountain. Photo Courtesy office of Navajo Nation President

Navajo Utah leadership plan for what comes next following Water Rights Settlement

Now that the Navajo Utah Water Rights Settlement has been finalized, Navajo Nation officials will work on how to spend the $218 million for infrastructure as well as allocate the annual allotment of 81,500 acre-feet. With around half of Utah Navajo residents living without running water, the top...

Seated from left to right Utah Governor Spencer Cox, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, and Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez sign the agreement while numerous tribal, federal and state leaders stand behind. Photo courtesy Nic Naylor, Utah Governors office

Signing finalizes massive Navajo Utah water rights settlement

by David Boyle News Director The execution of the Utah Navajo Water Rights Settlement was completed with a signing of state, federal and tribal leaders in Monument Valley on May 27. The agreement concluded 18 years of negotiations between the parties and affirms water rights of Utah Navajos, as...

Commission swears in new county attorney, talks Elk Meadows and Wildfire

Swearing in of the acting county attorney, concerns at Elk Meadows and a fire season report were all part of the May 17 meeting of the San Juan County Commission. At the latest county commission meeting Brittney Ivins was sworn in as the acting county attorney as she took the oath of office...

Utah approves transfer of trust lands from Bears Ears

Members of the Utah Legislative Management Committee unanimously approved support for a deal that would swap over 130,000 acres of state trust lands in San Juan County for federally managed lands in the state at an interim meeting on May 17. With the approval from Utah legislators, the Utah School...

Death at Island in the Sky Canyonlands National Park

On Thursday, May 12, Canyonlands National Park staff received a report of an abandoned vehicle at Grand View Point in the Island in the Sky district. A search and rescue team of National Park Service and San Juan County personnel was assembled to locate the owner of the vehicle. At approximately 2:...

Brittany Ivins is interim San Juan County Attorney, lawsuit still in 7th District court

San Juan County Commission selected Brittney Ivins to act as the acting county attorney through the end of 2022, but the issue isn’t entirely wrapped up in the 7th District Court. Following the March 28 resignation of county attorney Kendal Laws, San Juan County received interest from four county...

Commission appoints Brittney Ivins as Acting Attorney, but another lawsuit may be coming

San Juan County Commission selected Brittney Ivins to act as the acting county attorney through the end of 2022. Despite making the appointment of one of four county attorney applicants at the special May 11 meeting, there was an indication that the county may still end up in court due to the...

Screenshot from a SITLA DRAFT presented at the May 3 meeting of the San Juan County Commission. Pink squares are SITLA lands that may leave Bears Ears National Monument, green squares are BLM lands that could become SITLA lands

San Juan County grapples with transfer of state trust lands

Leadership with the Utah School and Institutional Trust Land Administration (SITLA) appeared before the San Juan County Commission on May 3 to hear input regarding the proposed land swap of 131,000 acres located inside the Bears Ears National Monument. Members of the public who spoke at the...

San Juan County Commmission approves raise for Monticello deputies, approve CIB list

Members of the San Juan County Commission approved a raise for Sheriff Deputies in Monticello, sent a letter in support of a Monument Valley Food Bank and approved their CIB priority funding list as part of their May 3 meeting. In addition to discussions around state trust land, and the county...

Eight county residents file lawsuit over County Attorney replacement

Update: After the printed San Juan Record deadline San Juan County Commission has called an emergency meeting for Thursday, May 5, to consider appointment of one of the four original applicants. Eight county residents including two applicants for the acting county attorney position have filed a...