Tribes are stuck as Colorado River negotiation deadline nears with no deal

Current rules defining how the Colorado River is to be shared by 40 million residents in the West will soon expire. The seven Basin states had until Tuesday, Nov. 11, to negotiate those guidelines, but no deal has been struck.

States still cannot come to terms, leaving tribes lost in the shuffle.

Daniel Cordalis, who is Navajo and runs the nonprofit Native American Rights Fund’s Tribal Water Institute, believes this federal deadline set by the Bureau of Reclamation “seems fairly arbitrary.”

“If it means anything,” added Cordalis, “maybe the federal government is going to step in and start throwing some weight around. It sounds like the states aren’t going to get anything done.”

Meanwhile, there’s no new nominee to helm the Reclamation Bureau. President Donald Trump hasn’t tapped anyone yet since naming his old commissioner pick, Ted Cooke, a former general manager of the Central Arizona Project.

The White House withdrew his nomination in September.

Beyond the bickering Upper and Lower Basin states, there are 30 federally recognized tribes stuck in the middle of a decades-old debate on how best to divvy the water while keeping the ever-dwindling river flowing.

“They have to try to come up with ideas that are doable,” said Cordalis, “and that will benefit the entire system — not just tribes — and I hope none of that is compromised by this deadline coming and going.”

When asked whether a deal would be inked before today’s deadline, the Interior Department told KJZZ: “While more work needs to be done, collective progress has been made that warrants continued efforts to define and approve details for a finalized agreement.”