On The Colorado - Resources

ANCESTRAL WATER: SINCE TIME IMMEMORIAL

The Colorado River Compact (1922) and the Upper Colorado River Basin Compact (1948) do not affect obligations to Native American interests. Article VII and Article XIX, respectively, of the 1922 and 1948 compacts provide that: Nothing in this compact shall be construed as affecting the obligations of the United States of America to Indian Tribes. The Colorado River Storage Project Act of 1956, the Colorado River Basin Project Act of 1968, and the associated Criteria for Coordinated Long-Range Operation of Colorado River Reservoirs (Long-Range Operating Criteria) did not alter these compact provisions.

There are 29 indian tribes within the Colorado River Basin with vested water rights of 2,900,000 acre-feet. There are 22 tribes recognized by the federal government. Ten of the Colorado River tribes are organized as a coalition called the Ten Tribe Partnership (also here) and advocate for a greater tribal voice in management of the Colorado River Basin.

The tribes hold senior water rights due to a legal decision made in 1908 called the Winters Doctrine, or sometimes called the Federal Reserved Rights Doctrine. The priority date for such water rights are typically based on when the reservation was established, which usually pre-dates all other water rights by the dominant hydrosociety. Many tribes have quantified their water rights, somtimes through litigation or settlement, and others hold claims to water that have yet to be quantified and perfected.

In 2017 the 9th District Court of Appeals affirmed Tribal rights to Groundwater: Agua Caliente Tribe Vs Coachella Valley Water District.
In 2021 the decision of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals mandates the federal government to meet its treaty obligations to the Navajo Nation. Navajo Nation vs USA. This case has advanced to the US Supreme Court as of November, 2022.

Please write to us to add additional tribal resources

DIGITAL LIBRARIES

National Indian Law Library (NILL)
1942 - Handbook of Federal Indian Law. Felix Cohen.
Tribal Water Rights: The University of Arizona Library Digital Collections

ADVANCING WATER JUSTICE FOR THE TRIBES (Literature Summary)

1908 - Winters Doctrine
1924 - Indian Citizens Act (Indian voting rights, in full, did not occur until 1957)
1963 - Arizona vs. California (Consolidated Decree, 2005)
1975 - Indian Self-Determination Act
1976 - Colorado River Water Conservation District vs. USA
2008 - Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. United Nations.
2015 - Recognized Indian Entities. Federal Register.
2015 - Tribal Leadership Directory. Bureau of Indian Affairs.
2018 - Indigenous Water Justice. Robison et al.

TRADITIONAL WATER KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM

TRIBAL WATER STUDY OF 2018

2018 - Tribal Water Study of the Ten-Tribe Partnership (documents combined and starting with the press release). This study is a new feature of the 2012 Basin Study.

INITIATIVES: Organized opportunities to advance water justice

Water and Tribes Initiative of the Colorado River Basin. Center for Natural Resources and Environmental Policy. University of Montana at Missoula.
Colorado River Conversations. Center for Climate Adaptation Science and Solutions. University of Arizona.
Website - Universal Access to Clean Water for Tribal Communities

Tribal Water Study Summary: Twenty-two federally recognized tribes in the Colorado River Basin have quantified water diversion rights that have been confirmed by court decree or final settlement. These tribes collectively possess rights to 2.9 MAF per year of Colorado River water. However, as of 2015, these tribes typically were using just over half of their quantified rights. Additionally, 13 other basin tribes that have reserved water rights claims are yet to be resolved. Increased water use by tribes with existing water rights, and/or future settlement of claims and additional consumptive use of basin waters by other tribes, is likely to exacerbate the competition for basin water resources.

The potential for increased use of tribal water rights (which, once ratified, are counted toward state-specific allocations where the tribal reservation is located). The Tribal Study of 2018 estimated that, cumulatively, the 10 tribes could have reserved water rights (including unresolved claims) to divert nearly 2.8 MAF per year. Of these water rights approximately 2 MAF per year were decreed and an additional 785,273 AF (mostly in the Upper Basin) remain unresolved. The report estimated overall, the 10 tribes are diverting (making use of) almost 1.5 MAF of their 2.8 MAF in resolved and unresolved claims. According to the study, the majority of unresolved claims in the Upper Basin are associated with the Ute Tribe in Utah (370,370 AF per year), the Navajo Nation in Utah (314,926 AF), and the Navajo Nation in the Upper Basin in Arizona (77,049 AF).

Fiqure 1.10: Tribal Water Rights and Diversions

TRIBES OF THE COLORADO RIVER BASIN

BANDS OF THE SOUTHERN PAIUTE NATIONS (NUWUVI)

Cedar Band
Chemehuevi Band (See above)
Chemehuevi Valley Band
Indian Peak Band
Kaibab Band
Konosh Band
Koosharem Band
Las Vegas Band
Moapa Band
Pahrump Band
San Juan Band
Shivwits Band
Twenty Nine Palms Band
Kawaiisu Band

BANDS IN CALIFORNIA (receive water deliveries from Colorado River)

La Jolla Band of Luiseño Indians
Pala Band of Mission Indians
Pauma Band of Mission Indians
Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians
San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians

COLORADO RIVER BASIN SUPPLY AND DEMAND STUDY

DOCUMENTS

1980 - Navajo Water Rights: Pulling the Plug in the Colorado River. Back.
1988 - Management and Marketing of Indian Water: From Conflict to Pragmatism. Getches.
1997 - Colorado River Governance: Sharing Federal Authority as an Incentive to Create a New Institution. Getches.
2003 to 2012: Principles for Implementation of Recommendations for San Juan River Operations and Administration. Navajo Nation et al.
2012 - Tribal Water Demand Appendix. Basin Study, USBR.
2013 - Cross Jurisdictional Water Marketing. CRGI.
2013 - Unique Challenges Facing Southwestern Tribes. Bemis.
2014 - Indian Water Rights: How Arizona v California Left an Unwanted Cloud Over the Colorado River Basin. Cordalis.
2014 - Restoring Sacred Waters. Nania and Guarino
2014 - How the Curse of Trust Land Impedes Tribal Economic Self-sutainibility. Clarkson.
2016 - Tribes and Water in the Colorado River Basin. Colorado River Research Group.
2017 - Fact Sheet on Escalade Project at Mouth of Little Colorado River

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

Colorado Plateau Foundation

LEGAL

LEGISLATION

1996 - Navajo/Hopi Land Dispute Settlement Act

EXECUTIVE ORDERS

1996 - Executive Order 13007. Indian Sacred Sites.
2009 - Secretarial Order 3285. Renewable Energy Development.
2009 - Secretarial Order 3292. Individual Indian Trust Management.
2014 - Department of the Interior Order 3335: Reaffirmation of the Federal Trust Responsibility to Federally Recognized Indian Tribes and Individual Indian Beneficiaries.

RESOURCES
Diversity Outreach Programs

Summer Research Aprenticeship Program. University of Wyoming.
University of Utah
Nothern Arizona University

SYMPOSIA

WATER PROJECTS
Bureau of Indian Affairs with Bureau of Reclamation

Coolidge Dam, Gila River; San Carlos Apache. Wikipedia.
Headgate Rock Dam, Lower Colorado River; Colorado River Indian Tribes
Navajo Indian Irrigation Project, San Juan River. Wikipedia.
Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project, San Juan River. Reclamation.

WATER RIGHTS

Tribal Water Rights & Uses in the Colorado River Basin. Ten Tribe Partnership.
Tribal Water Use in the Colorado River Basin. University of Colorado Law School.
1979 - Supplemental Decree (federal reserve rights)
Spreadsheet: Lower Basin Present Perfected Rights (senior water rights)
Estimate:Upper Basin Present Perfected Rights. Kuhn, 2012.
McCarran Amendment and the Administration of Tribal Reserved Water Rights. Stein.

WATER SETTLEMENTS

Native American Water Rights Settlement Project. UNM.
2004 - Arizona Water Settlements Act
2011 - Tribes Without Water Settlements. Reclamation.
2015 - Settlements Approved by Congress. WSWC.

TRIBAL RESOURCES:

American Indian Cultural Support (AICS)
The American Indian Cultural Support organization is dedicated to preserving our various Nations sovereignty, legal rights, lands, and cultures.
American Indian Movement (AIM)
Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development
Through applied research and service, the Harvard Project aims to understand and foster the conditions under which sustained, self-determined social and economic development is achieved among American Indian nations. The Harvard Project's core activities include research, advisory services, education and the administration of a tribal governance awards program.
Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP)
Established in 1992 with a vison to assist Indian Tribes in the management of their environmental resources through effective training and education programs.

Inter Tribal Council of Arizona (21 tribes). The Inter Tribal Council of Arizona was established in 1952 to provide a united voice for tribal governments located in the State of Arizona to address common issues of concerns. On July 9, 1975, the council established a private, non-profit corporation, Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc.(ITCA), under the laws of the State of Arizona to promote Indian self-reliance through public policy development.

National Congress of American Indians. (NCAI) was founded in response to termination and assimilation policies that the United States forced upon the tribal governments in contradiction of their treaty rights and status as sovereigns. NCAI stressed the need for unity and cooperation among tribal governments for the protection of their treaty and sovereign rights. Since 1944, the National Congress of American Indians has been working to inform the public and Congress on the governmental rights of American Indians and Alaska Natives.
Native American Legal Materials. Washburn University.
Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy (NNI)
NNI was founded in 2001 by the Morris K. Udall Foundation and The University of Arizona as a self-determination, self-governance, and development resource for Native nations.
University of Colorado at Boulder
Colorado Law's American Indian Law Program and Law Clinic provides students with comprehensive opportunities to acquire specialized knowledge of American Indian law, through curriculum and resources.
Utah American Indian Digital Archive. The Utah American Indian Digital Archive (UAIDA) is a gateway to the best resources regarding Utahs Indian tribes.

INDIGENOUS WATER JUSTICE & ETHICS

BOOKS ABOUT THE FIRST NATIONS

All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Life and Land. Laduke.
Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto. Deloria.
A History of Utah's American Indians. Edited by Forrest Cuch. Utah State University Press, 2003.
Command of the Waters: Iron Triangles, Federal Water Development, and Indian Water. Daniel McCool. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987.

WEBSITES

CONFERENCE VIDEOS ABOUT TRIBAL WATER ISSUES

Martz Summer Conference, 2016

Martz Summer Conference, 2019

OTHER INFORMATION

The Bluff Principles
The principles were finalized in 2016 in the Town of Bluff, Utah, along the San Juan River, during an informal two-day gathering of Ute, Hopi and Paiute tribal members. These principles were first published in this professional paper.
   1. Clean water for all peoples.
   2. Honoring sacred sites and the religious beliefs of all peoples.
   3. A holistic approach to water management that focuses on the ecosystem.
   4. Educating the public on the value of water: water is life.
   5   Using science to improve our understanding of water quality and quantity.
6. A focus on collaborative, inclusive policy-making.
   7. A water regime free of racism and prejudice.
   8. An ethic that emphasizes concern and caring for everyone, downstream and upstream.
   9. A goal of stewardship; leave the Earth and its water systems better than we found them.

A draft document of these priciples were prepared: Bluff Declaration For Water Justice in the Colorado River Basin.

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