Background: Black Mesa Trust was founded in 1999 by Hopi people to address the severe impacts that Peabody Coal Company's water withdrawals from the Navajo Aquifer were having on the environment, cultures and well-being of the Hopi and Diné (Navajo) living on Black Mesa. For almost 30 years, the peoples' voices were not heard in the public processes and Peabody's water usage and mining activities went virtually unchallenged. Peabody was allowed to operate without any meaningful input from the people whose lives were so drastically altered by the company's activities. Wells, washes, and ancient springs were beginning to run dry. Cracks and fissures were appearing across Black Mesa - and the centuries old cultures of the Hopi and Diné that depended so heavily upon the pristine aquifer for religious, cultural and day-to-day uses, were suffering as a result.

For the last 5 years, Black Mesa Trust has been working to educate Black Mesa residents and the wider public about the impacts of Peabody's pumping. Daily, the mining company pumps 3.3 million gallons of pure groundwater from the aquifer to mix with crushed coal, which is then slurried to Laughlin, Nevada, 273 miles away, to feed the Mohave Generating Station. The poisoned water is neither reclaimed nor reused. Ultimately, Black Mesa Trust seeks to stop Peabody's needless water pumping and permanently secure the Navajo Aquifer, with its surrounding springs and watershed, for present and future generations who will value its unique influence upon the indigenous people and their environment.