The future of managing water in the West remains uncertain following the presidential election. But a handful of Colorado River Basin tribes are celebrating a series of new water infrastructure investments from the outgoing Biden administration.
Inside a cramped room at a Las Vegas resort, leaders from five federally recognized Southwestern tribes came together during the annual Colorado River Water Users Association conference.
“You just don’t work on water, but show up to the table every time,” Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton said. “[That] has made a tremendous difference to the dialogue.”
“I’ve had the privilege to visit over half of your homelands, some several times,” she added. “So thank you for continuing to welcome us to be able to understand what the river means to you.”
The San Carlos Apache Tribe and Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe, which straddles the Arizona-California border, met with the Bureau of Reclamation to extend water-saving agreements during a signing ceremony on Wednesday.
San Carlos has agreed to not withdraw 30,000 acre feet from Lake Mead in exchange for $12 million from the federal government, while Fort Yuma Quechan will collect $5.2 million to leave 13,000 acre feet alone.
San Carlos Apache Chairman Terry Rambler is “very thankful for President Biden, Secretary Haaland, Commissioner Touton and Deputy Commissioner Palumbo for their investment in Indian Country and our tribe.”
Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Councilmember Virgil Smith echoed his gratitude, adding that Touton has “always been here with an open heart.”
Colorado River Indian Tribes Chairwoman Amelia Flores signed a letter of intent to fund a $5 million planning study to construct a new reservoir for its main canal through Reclamation’s Native American Affairs Technical Assistance Program, which provides support to develop, manage and protect their water resources.
“This is a much-needed project, and one that we can check off our list in addressing the significant needs of our irrigation,” Flores said. “This is much more than a re-regulation reservoir. It’s also about protecting our river and our environment, who we are as river people, the water that gives us life.”
The National Audubon Society and Walton Family Foundation are also project partners, and this new reservoir, once completed, is expected to save up to 35,000 acre feet.
Additionally, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, which spans the Four Corners states of Utah, Colorado and New Mexico, signed a repayment contract for the Animas-La Plata Project that has been ongoing for 14 years. It’ll also allocate the tribe 38,000 acre feet of storage in Lake Nighthorse, a reservoir near Durango, Colorado.
“The commitment to continue dialogue was instrumental,” Ute Mountain Ute Chairman Manuel Heart said. “Reclamation’s willingness to stay at the table and work through these tough issues resulted in a one-of-a-kind agreement.”
Lastly, the White Mountain Apache Tribe has been awarded $21.5 million from the Inflation Reduction Act to help plan and design a rural water system to divert, store and distribute water from the White River for some 15,000 residents across the Fort Apache Reservation in eastern Arizona.
White Mountain Apache Attorney General KeAloha Douma shared her families “turn on their faucets every day to have black, manganese-filled water,” adding “that should not be happening in America, but it’s happening within our communities.”
In all, the Biden administration has disbursed about $1 billion for tribal water resource projects between the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, while President-elect Donald Trump has pledged during his campaign to claw back unspent dollars from these federal funding sources.
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