FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Navajo and Hopi lawmakers are soon expected to decide the fate of a water rights settlement that could end years of litigation or send the tribes back to court.

The settlement recognizes the rights of the tribes to groundwater within the Little Colorado River basin and gives the Navajo Nation nearly three-fourths of surface water from the river. The tribes would waive further claims to the river system in exchange for groundwater delivery projects paid for by the federal government.