Flagstaff, USA - The Navajo Nation has appealed a federal court’s decision to allow a ski area to use treated wastewater to make snow.
A court ruling issued last month upheld a previous decision by the Coconino National Forest to authorize facility upgrades at the Arizona Snowbowl and to allow artificial snowmaking. The treated effluent would be delivered by pipeline from Flagstaff, a few miles southeast.
Snowbowl officials have said the snowmaking equipment is necessary to ensure the survival of the ski area.
The tribe argues that federal environmental policies were not followed and the tribe’s religious freedom was violated.
Snowbowl is privately owned and operated but is on a small portion of federal land in the San Francisco Peaks.
The Navajo Nation, along with other American Indian tribes in the region, consider the peaks sacred.