Project’s Impact on Water Worries Tribes

Developer Tom DePaolo is promoting his megadevelopment as a potential economic boon for the area’s American Indian tribes, but at least some remain squeamish.

DePaolo said the $500-million Canyon Forest Village is a chance for tribes to get involved economically with Grand Canyon tourism. Tribes can share their cultural heritage at an education center in the proposed development, he said.

Tribal leaders worry about the impact on water in and around the Grand Canyon.

Trying to allay fears about the amount of water the 672-acre development could draw from area supplies, large advertisements promoting Canyon Forest Village have popped up in tribal newspapers.

DePaolo’s proposal calls for the exchange of 12 privately owned parcels inside Kaibab National Forest for one parcel along Highway 64. On that land, DePaolo hopes to build housing, a mass transit-education center, 3,650 hotel rooms, 250 campsites and 425,000 square feet of retail space.

Despite the developer’s efforts to court the tribes, the Havasupai, who live in the canyon, and the Hopi have been hesitant to take a position so far.

Roland Manakaja, the Havasupai natural resources director, said elders will visit the proposed exchange sites before a position is determined, because there are a variety of places throughout the region that have religious and cultural significance to the Havasupai.

He worries that any wells drilled for Canyon Forest Village would deplete streams in the canyon.

“The main issue that the tribe will be concerned about is the water,” Manakaja said. “I’m very concerned about the depletion of the Havasupai Creek because of the religious significance.”

Kim Secakuku, spokeswoman for Hopis, said the Hopi Tribal Council has not taken an official stand either.

“The tribe has always been of the position that there needs to be an effort to look at the overall protection of the Grand Canyon,” she said. “The Grand Canyon is a sacred place to Hopi.”

She said the Hopi government is hoping to finish combing through information about the options for area before it takes a position.

Attempts to contact Navajo Nation officials were not immediately successful, but one Navajo businesswoman, Aresta LaRusso, has strongly supported Canyon Forest Village.

LaRusso, who owns a clothing store in Flagstaff, said the village is a chance for the tribe and tribal members to begin making money from Grand Canyon tourism.

She said so far the tribes have been unable to capitalize on the 5 million tourists heading to the canyon each year, because the private property in the area is controlled by a relatively small group of families.