FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) – Flagstaff city councilors are meeting Feb. 15 to consider a $1.8 million contract to drill six wells on a city-owned ranch near Winslow.

The Navajo Nation is protesting the plan aimed at defining the quality and quantity of the water at the Red Gap Ranch.

Navajo President Ben Shelly says the tribe agreed to help the city secure an adequate water supply if it supported the tribe's claims to water from the lower Colorado River basin.

A water rights settlement the Tribal Council approved last year includes restrictions on off-reservation pumping of what's known as the C-aquifer.

Flagstaff City Manager Kevin Burke says an agreement between the city and the tribe over regional water rights expired in 2008.

Flagstaff bought the ranch in 2005 using voter-approved municipal bonds.

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Information from: Arizona Daily Sun, http://www.azdailysun.com/