Trump administration seeks to strip tribal veto power over hydropower projects following navajo nation’s black mesa rejection

The Trump administration is pushing to eliminate tribal nations’ ability to block hydropower projects on their ancestral lands, following the Navajo Nation’s successful opposition to a controversial project on Black Mesa in northern Arizona. Energy Secretary Chris Wright has formally requested that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) reverse its policy requiring tribal consent for hydropower development, arguing that Indigenous veto power creates “unnecessary burdens” to critical infrastructure development.

The dispute centers on Black Mesa, where hydropower company Nature and People First proposed pumped-storage projects that would have moved water between reservoirs to generate electricity. The Navajo Nation and environmental groups opposed the plan, citing threats to endangered fish habitats and concerns about massive groundwater withdrawals from an already-stressed aquifer. FERC denied the permits under its current policy requiring tribal support—a decision Wright now wants overturned.

The controversy has deep historical roots. In the 1960s, Peabody Coal’s mining operations in Black Mesa exceeded legal groundwater pumping limits, forcing residents to haul water and fundamentally altering their way of life. After the mines closed, communities have focused on protecting remaining water resources. When the hydropower company’s founder presented plans promising jobs and water access, tribal leaders saw echoes of past exploitation and broken promises.

More than 20 tribes, environmental groups, and elected officials are urging FERC to maintain tribal veto rights. Nicole Horseherder of the Diné-led water rights organization Tó Nizhóní Ání warns that removing tribal consent would mark “the first step in eroding” the federal-tribal relationship, though she remains determined: “Indigenous people know that they need to continue to fight.”