Negotiating Tribal Water Rights: Fulfilling Promises in the Arid West

by Bonnie G. Colby, John E. Thorson, Sarah Britton, David H. Getches (Foreword by)

Overview

Water conflicts plague every river in the West, with the thorniest dilemmas found in the many basins with Indian reservations and reserved water rights—rights usually senior to all others in over-appropriated rivers. Negotiations and litigation over tribal water rights shape the future of both Indian and non-Indian communities throughout the region, and intense competition for limited water supplies has increased pressure to address tribal water claims.

Much has been written about Indian water rights; for the many tribal and non-Indian stakeholders who rely upon western water, this book now offers practical guidance on how to negotiate them. By providing a comprehensive synthesis of western water issues, tribal water disputes, and alternative approaches to dispute resolution, it offers a valuable sourcebook for all—tribal councils, legislators, water professionals, attorneys—who need a basic understanding of the complexities of the situation.

The book reviews the history, current status, and case law related to western water while revealing strategies for addressing water conflicts among tribes, cities, farms, environmentalists, and public agencies. Drawing insights from the process, structure, and implementation of water rights settlements currently under negotiation or already agreed to, it presents a detailed analysis of how these cases evolve over time. It also provides a wide range of contextual materials, from the nuts and bolts of a Freedom of Information Act request to the hydrology of irrigation. It also includes contributed essays by expert authors on special topics, as well as interviews with key individuals active in water management and tribal water cases.

As stakeholders continue to battle over rights to water, this book clearly addresses the place of Native rights in the conflict. Negotiating Tribal Water Rights offers an unsurpassed introduction to the ongoing challenges these claims present to western water management while demonstrating the innovative approaches that states, tribes, and the federal government have taken to fulfill them while mitigating harm to both non-Indians and the environment.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780816536498
Publisher:	University of Arizona Press
Publication date:	12/01/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	190
File size:	8 MB

About the Author

Bonnie G. Colby is Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of Arizona and co-author of Water Markets in Theory and Practice. John E. Thorson is co-founder of Dividing the Waters, a project for judges involved in western water adjudications, and now serves as an administrative law judge for the State of California. Sarah Britton, a graduate of the University of Arizona College of Law, is an attorney with the Public Defender in Sacramento.

Table of Contents

(contents) (FMT)Contents(\) List of Illustrations 00 List of Abbreviations 00 Foreword, David H. Getches 00 Acknowledgments 00 Funding Organizations 00 Introduction 00 Intent of Publication 00 How Best to Use This Book 00 Part One: The Context for Indian Water Settlements 1: Historical Background 000 European Incursions 000 American Indian Policy 000 Sidebar 1.1: The Allotment Era 000 2: Legal Background 000 General Stream Adjudications and the McCarran Amendment 000 Federal Reserved Water Rights 000 Standards for Quantifying Winters Rights 000 Pueblo Water Rights 000 Tribal Sovereignty 000 Federal Trust Relationship 000 Federal Obligations to Indian Tribes 000 Sidebar 2.1: The Winters Decision 000 Sidebar 2.2: Concerns with the PIA Standard 000 3: Indian Water Rights and the New West 000 Demographic Changes and the New Economy 000 Climate Change and Cyclical Drought 000 Changes in Presidential Administration 000 National and International Economic Trends 000 Water-Management Capacity of States and Tribes 000 Adaptive Watershed Management 000 Interstate Water Issues 000 Sidebar 3.1: Agriculture, Federal Farm Programs, and Water Availability for Tribal Settlements, George B. Frisvold 000 Sidebar 3.2: Implications of Climate Variability and Water Supplies for Tribal Water Settlements, Carmen Carrion 000 Part Two: Stakeholders 4: Hopes and Concerns 000 Mutual Goals 000 American Indian Tribes 000 Non-Indian Water Users 000 Environmental Advocates 000 Western State Governments 000 The Federal Government's Many Hats 000 Sidebar 4.1: Tribes and Environmental Objectives 000 Sidebar 4.2: State Water Agencies 000 5: Perspectives 000 Tribal Perspective: Interview with John Echohawk 000 Pueblo Perspective: Interview with Nelson J. Cordova 000 Urban Perspective: Interview with George Britton 000 Federal Perspective: Interview with David J. Hayes 000 Part Three: Making Settlements 6: Settlement Processes 000 Preparing for Negotiations 000 Coordinating Litigation with Negotiations 000 Developing Information and Positions 000 Federal Review and Approval 000 Funding Settlements 000 Authorization by States and Tribes 000 Court Approval 000 Implementation 000 Sidebar 6.1: Experienced Negotiators' Tips for the Settlement Process 000 Sidebar 6.2: Freedom of Information Act 000 Sidebar 6.3: Thoughts on Working with Tribes 000 Sidebar 6.4: Experienced Negotiators' Tips for Moving a Bill through the Federal Maze 000 Sidebar 6.5: Congressional Authorization Process 000 Sidebar 6.6: The Appropriations Process in Indian Water Rights Settlements 000 7: Settlement Components 000 Sources of Water 000 Strategies to Obtain Water for Tribal Settlements 000 Water Markets, Transfers, and Exchanges 000 Water Management and State-Tribal Jurisdiction 000 Financial Components of Settlements 000 Economic Efficiency Considerations 000 Tribal Administration of Water Resources 000 Enforcement and Dispute Resolution 000 Other Settlement Features 000 Sidebar 7.1: Monetary Compensation as a Component of Settlements 000 Sidebar 7.2: Economic and Financial Considerations for Settlements 000 8: Making Water Available for Indian Water Rights Settlements, James P. Merchant 000 Water Sources in Past Indian Water Rights Settlements 000 Use in Future Settlements of Water Conserved by Agriculture 000 Part Four: Learning from Collective Experience 9: Representative Settlements and Settlement Efforts 000 Quantification Resulting from Litigation 000 Wind River Litigation, Ramsey Kropf 000 Settlements Resulting from Strong Congressional Leadership 000 Ak-Chin Water Settlement 000 Truckee-Carson--Pyramid Lake Water Settlement 000 State Government Settlement Initiatives 000 Navajo Indian Irrigation Project 000 Fort Hall Indian Water Rights Settlement 000 Northern Cheyenne Compact, Barbara Cosens 000 Tribal Settlement Initiatives 000 Warm Springs Water Rights Settlement, Beth S. Wolfsong 000 Other Water Users' Settlement Initiatives 000 Gila River and Little Colorado River Settlements 000 Salt River Pima--Maricopa Indian Community 000 Zuni Heaven Settlement Negotiations 000 Settlements Addressing Endangered Species Act Issues 000 Colorado Ute Water Rights Settlement, Scott McElroy 000 Shivwits Band of the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, M. Evelyn Woods 000 Klamath Water Crisis, Stephen E. Snyder 000 When Is a Settlement Settled? 000 Southern Arizona Water Rights Settlement Act 000 10: Conclusion 000 The Winters Legacy 000 Factors Producing a Settlement 000 How Final Is Final? 000 Observations and Recommendations 000 To Celebrate or Not to Celebrate? 000 Notes 000 Appendix 000 Bibliography 000 Authors and Contributors 000 Index 000 (FMT)Illustrations(\) (FMS1)Maps(\) I.1 Reservations in Arizona and along the Lower Colorado River 000 I.2 Reservations in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming 000 I.3 Reservations in New Mexico 000 2.1 Reservations in Montana 000 8.1 Selected reservations in Southern California 000 9.1 Wind River Reservation in Wyoming 000 9.2 Selected reservations in Southern and Central Arizona 000 9.3 Pyramid Lake, Truckee and Carson Rivers, Nevada 000 9.4 Reservations in Idaho 000 (FMS1)Figures(\) 2.1 Federal investments in irrigation projects 000 6.1 Flow chart of settlement process 000 8.1 Schematic of irrigation project 000 8.2 Schematic of crop evapotranspiration, infiltration, and deep percolation 000 8.3 Schematic of runoff and deep percolation for furrow irrigation and level basin or sprinkler irrigation 000 (FMS1)Tables(\) I.1 Negotiated settlements of tribal water rights 000 3.1 Irrigation consumptive use in seventeen western irrigation states 000 3.2 EQIP funds requested and obligated 000 6.1 Federal assessment, negotiation, and implementation teams 000 A.1 Indian water rights settlements and quantification cases 000 (FMS1)Photos(\) Water Bearers sculpture, New Mexico State Capitol grounds 000 Apache woman carrying water, 1900 000 Farm worker harvests cotton near Hatch, New Mexico 000 Warm Springs tribal members set hoop net in place 000 Three men in fishing boat 000 Windmill, symbol of water in the West 000 Jigsaw pattern of dried desert lands 000 Old shed and windmill 000 Headgate awaits the gift of water 000 Navajo sweat house, 1908 000

Editorial Reviews

This is a very nice overview of an exceedingly complex topic, and one that will enlighten many people unfamiliar with the particular but important issues involved with Indian…water rights.”—Journal of the West

“A remarkably readable book that clearly outlines the issues and basis for tribal water disputes.”—Journal of Arizona History

From the Publisher