Overview:
A Former Navajo Nation President talks running for congress, data centers and water rights.
Northern Arizona is confronting a collision of growth, drought and accelerating tech demand. Former Navajo president Jonathan Nez, now running for Arizona’s 2nd Congressional district as a Democrat, says the region’s political leadership hasn’t kept pace.
Speaking to Native News Online, Nez outlines how data center proposals, shrinking Colorado River allocations and rising utility costs are reshaping daily life for Native and rural voters across the district – and how he hopes to address those issues if elected.
Nez argues that transparency failures and rushed development have fueled public backlash from Tucson to Page, where residents ousted local officials over undisclosed data center negotiations. Nez ties those fights to broader questions of water security, tribal sovereignty and the future of clean energy in Indian Country.
“Water is life,” Nez said. “We need to ensure water is available not just now, but for our children, grandchildren and seven generations and beyond.”
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
What are your thoughts on the expansion of data centers in Indian Country and surrounding communities?
Any type of economic development venture should start with local leaders being transparent with their constituents. I see time and time again, especially in Indian Country, where the public is not informed about what is going on, and the aftereffect is opposition to large-scale projects, including data centers.
You have elected leaders who have good intentions for bringing in revenue and jobs, but we also have to be better stewards of the land and our resources. Data centers use a lot of water, they use a lot of energy, and there is a lot of noise from these types of facilities. Outside tribal nations, property values around these data centers lessen in value.
As a person running for Congress right now, we have to have a better relationship with local leaders — and that means town leaders, city leaders, county leaders and state leaders. Technology is expanding throughout the world, and there is a need for data storage. That is why these data centers are being considered in places all across the country. But in the Southwest, we are in a drought, and water is life.
I think in the Southwest, tribes are saying “no” to these data centers, and their neighbors outside tribal areas are also saying “no.”
Here in Arizona, the city of Tucson in the southern part of the state has taken a position saying “no” to data centers. Recently, primary elections took place in the city of Page in northern Arizona, where local leaders, I believe, were not very transparent about what was going on.
When the public found out that elected leaders were pursuing a data center, they came out in full force in opposition and even removed those council members from elected positions. So in the area, there’s a lot of pushback and opposition.
The federal administration has announced that Arizona will face the largest cuts among states and tribes relying on the Colorado River amid the ongoing drought. What are you hearing from voters about water scarcity, and how are communities responding?
They are upset that our current leaders, especially my opponent, are nowhere to be found and should be at the table during these water rights discussions.
The federal government, as you said, made a decision to reduce water allocations from the Colorado River by 30%. That’s the largest of any state in the Upper and Lower Basins of the Colorado River.
You probably have that data in front of you where it says large data centers can consume 1 million to 5 million gallons of water per day. That’s around 1.8 billion gallons per year. And that’s the concern.
There’s a lot of growth in Arizona, people moving into the Southwest and into Congressional District 2 that I am running to represent. We need to make sure we get our fair share of water from tributaries that include the Colorado River and also protect our precious groundwater.
There needs to be a serious discussion in the Southwest about conservation, especially when water levels are lessening.
Two dams on the Colorado River right now — Glen Canyon Dam and Hoover Dam — are at all-time lows since they were filling up. Those two dams create hydroelectricity, inexpensive power that goes to southern Arizona, California and Nevada.
We’re at a point where the water that goes through the dam to spin the generators is almost below the intake valves. If that happens, they call it “dead pool,” meaning water will just sit there without going through the dam or downstream.
That will increase utility rates. Electricity bills will only go up further. That’s the concern here in the Southwest. It all surrounds water security.
As we say in Indian Country, water is life. We need to ensure water is available not just now, but for our children, grandchildren, and seven generations and beyond.
How do you view the transition toward renewable energy in Indian Country, particularly as federal policies affect energy development and social services?
As president and vice president of the Navajo Nation — the largest tribe in the country — we saw outside influence focused on shutting down coal-fired power plants in the Southwest, including the Navajo Generating Station.
There were a lot of negotiations to keep that facility up because of the jobs and revenue coming in, alongside discussions of transitioning into renewable energy: natural gas, solar. But the powers that be decided it needed to be decommissioned.
To this day, there is no more coal-fired power plant in that area. The coal used to fuel that station came from the Navajo Nation via Peabody Coal Company. When the plant went away, Peabody Coal had to close its doors. Between $30 million and $50 million in revenue went away.
Rather than letting that dictate our future, we decided as a nation to transition to renewable energy.
Today, we have three large-scale solar projects on the Navajo Nation: Kayenta 1, Kayenta 2 and Red Mesa, producing energy, putting it on the grid and bringing revenue to the Navajo Nation.
Northern Arizona and Congressional District 2 have an opportunity to embrace this transition. We have wind farms and solar projects bringing low-cost power into the grid.
That said, Indigenous tribes have the ability to govern themselves. There’s been a larger discussion in Indian Country about data sovereignty: protecting Native nations wanting to protect their own information, ensuring personal data within their jurisdiction is safe.
We recently saw another breach of information in a federal agency — the Department of Defense and Pentagon — with Social Security numbers and personal information leaked.
Some tribes are saying maybe we need our own facilities that protect our own data. If a tribal nation wants that and develops a project to protect its data, a congressman should not stand in the way and say no. Congress should support those endeavors.
Of course, not every tribe wants a data center. There are areas with ample water and no drought issues.
Congress needs to have a national discussion about where data centers are placed because AI and tech growth are moving rapidly, but we cannot sacrifice communities.
What do you see as the greatest economic challenge facing Arizona right now, and how would you address it in Congress?
The economy is on a downward spin. High fuel prices and diesel prices — we had to park our diesel trucks at our farm and ranch where I grew up because it was simply too expensive. That affects food distribution.
Meanwhile, my opponent voted six times to continue this war in Iran, which is negatively impacting our economy.
You hear the terms “affordability” and “shrinkflation.” Major corporations are making record profits. Under H.R. 1, enormous tax breaks were given to corporations, the wealthy and data center companies.
Quite ironically, some of those data center companies that received tax breaks are donating to elected leaders, including my opponent.
At the same time, services to people who need help are being cut. In this state alone, over 500,000 people were kicked off SNAP benefits. These aren’t handouts. These are hand-up programs.
Look at Medicaid cuts — AHCCCS in Arizona. I was at an elderly facility in Prescott Valley where elders are terrified of going bankrupt when ACA subsidies expire and health care costs skyrocket.
My opponent doesn’t even live in the district. He lives close to Tucson, completely disconnected from the people he represents.
We need to take away billionaire tax breaks, invest locally, restore checks and balances, and truly put working Americans first.
Is there anything else you would like voters to know about your campaign?
I am running to be the first Indigenous person — Native American — from the state of Arizona elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Congress should look like America. Almost 3% of the population in this country is Native American, but there is not 3% representation in Congress.
Throughout my career in elected office, I have advocated for everyone, not just those who voted for me.
To my knowledge, there has never been a tribal executive leader — a governor, chairman or president of a tribe — elected to Congress.
A tribal executive knows firsthand the barriers when trying to get things done in Indian Country: the laws that must change, the regulations that must be updated so projects move faster on trust lands. That includes energy development and energy independence.
I have protected tribal sovereignty since I was first elected, and I will continue to be a facilitator with outside communities to ensure a better future for our children, grandchildren, and seven generations and beyond.
