American Indian Report - August 2008 - (Page 15)

supply and forcing it to take water from aquifers beneath the reservation. Matters worsened in the 1930s with the construction of a 13-mile tunnel through the San Jacinto Mountains, a few miles from the reservation, to deliver water from the Colorado River to Southern Californians. It devastated the Soboba’s underground reservoir, which feeds 16 springs. Conditions were so dry that the tribe had to abandon farming and could not get HUD homes. The Soboba sued the federal government for failing to protect the tribe’s water resources from the tunnel and the pumping and upstream diversions. The suit was settled in 1991 for $12 million. Then the federal government joined with the tribe to negotiate an overall resolution for its water claims. The two water districts that had inherited the liability of the upstream diversions came to the table in 2000. Tribal Chairman Robert Salgado said the tribe uses about 3,000 acre feet of water per year, so the remaining 6,000 acre feet it is entitled to will get pumped back into the system. But if water levels get too low, falling into the “red zone,” no one else can pump except the tribe. The Soboba’s settlement is one of about a halfdozen at various stages on Capitol Hill this year. Among them is a settlement that will secure 600,000 acre feet per year of water to the Navajo Nation. With only about 25 ratified over the last two or so decades, many more will conclude this way. Some, though, will end in court. No matter how tribes fight for their water rights, they can count on a long battle and investing a lot of resources. In fact, for any tribe that has not yet pursued its reserved water rights, the fight could get tougher. As the nation’s population grows, the demand for water will increase. Water supplies in some regions, such as the West and Southwest, are drying up from droughts caused by climate change. But it is a battle tribes have every right to fight, because decades of laws and case law have reserved that right for them, and one that must be fought. To tribes that have not pursued their rights yet, Salgado advised that they do and get the amount that they need. Water is like gold, he said. “We all do not win or get what we want in the negotiations, but it is the best thing you can get for your people,” Salgado said. 1963 Arizona v. California This case, involving several rounds and spanning decades, was filed to determine how much water from the Colorado River Arizona, California and Nevada were entitled to. The U.S. government intervened on behalf of tribes and federal lands impacted. From the round decided in 1963 by the U.S. Supreme Court emerged a standard for quantifying how much water should be reserved, which equated to the number of acres on a reservation that could be “practicably irrigated.” 1983 Nevada v. United States The U.S. Supreme Court upholds a 1944 settlement agreement that allocated water to the Pyramid Lake Paiute tribe. Settled by the U.S. District Court, the agreement had only reserved water for irrigation purposes, not for water required to maintain Pyramid Lake fisheries and rivers. Thus, the federal government and tribe had gone back to court in 1963 for more water. 1985 Colville Confederated Tribes v. Walton The U.S. Court of Appeals, reversing a 1985 U.S District Court decision, rules that the tribes’ reserved water rights should include enough water to allow fish spawning. The court also rules that the state has limited interest in extending its water law to the reservation. 1987 Federal Clean Water Act Federal Clean Water Act is amended to allow tribes to be treated as states and to establish their own water quality standards. American Indian Report August 2008 1

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of American Indian Report - August 2008

American Indian Report - August 2008 Contents Notes from Indian Country Congress: Activity from the Hill Navajo Elder Recognized for Fighting for Voting Rights Water Rights — A Long, Hard Battle Well Worth Fighting Native Youth Share Creator’s Game with International Community Rancheria Restores Traditional Ecosystem on Purchased Land Grants: EDA — Investing in Tribal Economic Development Native Eyes Film Showcase Entices Youth into Media BlogRoll

American Indian Report - August 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.