(Al Hartmann | Tribune file photo) This file photo shows the San Juan River near Bluff, Utah, which marks the northern boundary of the Navajo Nation. The Navajo Utah Water Rights Settlement Act, which was recently passed by the U.S. Senate, would for the first time recognize the Navajo Nation's rights to water in the upper Colorado River Basin in Utah, including the San Juan.
Zak is the southeast Utah reporter for The Tribune. He has been writing from Bluff, Utah, since 2015 and is the author of Confluence: Navigating the Personal & Political On Rivers of the New West. His second book, which will cover the decline of Lake Powell, is forthcoming from Torrey House Press in 2024.