The ruling could make the Navajo water crisis even worse
Estimated reading time: 2m 40s
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In keeping with our Supreme Court coverage this month, let’s take a look at another recent ruling that directly impacts Native Americans. Last week, the Supreme Court ruled against the Navajo Nation in the case of Arizona v. Navajo Nation, a case about Native water rights in the American Southwest. At the center of the case was a 155-year-old agreement, the Treaty of Bosque Redondo, which established the Navajo as a sovereign nation and also recognized their rights to natural resources such as water, timber, and minerals. In a 5-4 majority (Neil Gorsuch sided with the three liberal justices), the Court decided that the US government’s responsibilities toward the Navajo Nation under that treaty were only to recognize the tribe’s water rights, not facilitate their access to it. |
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(Photo credit: Associated Press) |
Navajo access to water has been a longstanding issue. It’s estimated that about one-third of the 175,000 residents who live on the 17-million-acre reservation don’t have running water in their homes. The reservation’s primary water source is the Colorado River, which supplies water to much of the American Southwest and Southern California. The Colorado River has been under threat for decades, as the demands of residential development and industrial agriculture have increased and climate disasters like droughts have taken more water out than is being put in. The Supreme Court’s stance that simply recognizing that the tribe’s right to water exists should be sufficient is another example in an ongoing series of the federal government’s failure to uphold its own treaties with respect to Native American tribes. |
(Photo credit: Associated Press) |
Water rights in the West have been a point of contention between governments, tribes, farmers and other interested parties for a very long time. But in our current era of climate crisis, these disputes can get dialed up to an 11 as cities like Phoenix and Salt Lake City explode in population and mega farms in California’s Central Valley demand more water for crop irrigation. In the meantime, members of the Navajo Nation who live on the reservation are seeing their need for water pushed aside by state and federal governments, even as droughts and the climate crisis as a whole stand to make their situation more desperate. |
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For ongoing coverage of Native water rights for the Navajo Nation and beyond, check out ICT News. For more coverage of all things water out West, read High Country News. |
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One more thing before I go! Every week in the Reckon Report, we try to take you below the surface of the news. One major news event on the horizon is the return of student loan payments. The “will they or won’t they?” of loan forgiveness and the Supreme Court is hanging over our heads like a threat, while the recently passed debt ceiling deal in Congress included a promise to restart student loan payments in September. Resuming loan payments is going to disrupt the lives of millions of people who are still navigating the financial uncertainty of the last few years in the face of inflation, rising costs of living, supply chain disruptions and a shaky job market. If this resonates with you, we want to hear about it. Take a few minutes to answer our survey questions. Responses can be submitted anonymously if you want. Thank you for helping guide our coverage of the student debt crisis. Got something you want me to dive into next week? Let me know at avelasquez@reckonmedia.com.
That's all I've got for this week!
Thanks for reckoning with me, Aria |
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