In the Midst of a Climate Crisis, Indigenous Tribes Demand Their Water Rights. Can They Overcome State Suppression?
As another summer passes, extreme droughts continue to overtake the American West. Source: CNN
“Megadrought in the American southwest: a climate disaster unseen in 1,200 years.”
“Climate change made 2022’s northern-hemisphere droughts ‘at least 20 times’ more likely.”
“China, Europe, US drought: Is 2022 the driest year recorded?”
We’ve grown accustomed to daunting headlines such as these, which now populate the news cycle each summer–it is undeniable that the aridification of the American West is a crisis of great proportions. As climate change propels forward this process, tension over water access in this region grows. Water levels are continuing to fall, resulting in significant cuts for states. The Colorado River, which once supplied 15 million acre-feet of water to surrounding households each year, now supplies just 12 million acre-feet; moreover, researchers predict this quantity to drop to nine million acre-feet, “a 40% decrease in a water source that supports 40 million people”. Currently, none of the involved states have created a legitimate plan for how to accommodate this drop in resources. What’s more, they have failed to recognize that they are not the only entity that lays claim to the Colorado River–the over 30 federally recognized indigenous tribes in the river’s basin are legally entitled to between 3.2 to 3.8 million acre-feet of ground and surface water.
Yet, despite these legal rights, indigenous tribes face a serious disadvantage. One major tribe residing in this region is the Navajo Nation, which currently has claims to over 700,000 acre-feet of water annually. However, up to 40% of Navajo households lack the proper infrastructure for running water, a hurdle that blocks many indigenous populations from achieving access to this fundamental right. Improving infrastructure to solve this problem can be an arduous process, as states are reluctant to work alongside tribal leaders or recognize water rights claims in fear of lessening their respective allocations–this trend of exclusion has plagued indigenous people for centuries. If tribes did have the resources to ensure equitable water access to their citizens, it would considerably influence the future of their struggle for water availability.
Colorado River Basin tribes are often unable to access their allotted water. Source: Ten Tribes Partnership Tribal Water Study
Recently, a new development has arisen in the debate over water access between states and indigenous tribes. In early November, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a dispute between the Navajo Nation, the Biden administration, and Arizona, Nevada, and Colorado over the Navajo Nation’s efforts to secure rights to a contested region of the Colorado River. Specifically, the tribe is asserting that, in accordance with the treaty signed with the United States in 1849, the federal government not only grants them access to their land but also assumes the duty of providing water to indigenous citizens. In the words of tribe lawyers, “when the United States creates an Indian reservation, it also promises and reserves for the tribe the amount of then-unappropriated water necessary to fulfill the reservation’s purposes”. The federal government, on the other hand, argues that they do not have this obligation–they are backed by the states in their decision, who wish to avoid being negatively impacted at a time when water is so scarce. The outcome of this case will play a role in the aforementioned challenge that indigenous populations face in terms of actually acquiring the use of the water that they have rights to.
Apart from the court case, numerous tribes are making strides toward ensuring their access to water despite dismal conditions. Recent federal cooperation is evident through the allocation of $1.7 billion for tribes to use for water settlements, establishing that states and indigenous tribes will have to work in tandem to adapt to the egregious burden of climate change. At the local level, tribes and communities are already planning together for what the future may bring. For instance, Tucson, Arizona has agreed to store and deliver drinking water for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, which lacks adequate infrastructure to do so. Means of creating such infrastructure are also coming into light, with the finalization of the Navajo Utah Water Rights Settlement Act authorizing $220 million for a myriad of projects connecting water lines to rural areas of reservations.
It is essential that cooperation along these lines continues, as the survival and well-being of indigenous citizens depend upon a commitment to equitable distribution of water resources. Looking at the bigger picture, we also must recognize the underlying cause of these tensions: increasingly worsened droughts induced by climate change. Persistent water demand from tribes and states alike will not cease, and we have to be wary of the depletion of valuable water resources that may take years to replenish, which has a lasting impact on future water availability. Methods of diminishing climate change’s effects–urban water conservation, stormwater capture, and making agricultural water usage more efficient–are certainly important, but the most crucial course of action remains fighting drought at its root and working to mitigate climate change itself.
