Securing the proper legal documents to protect their water rights often takes time and money that tribes can’t afford.
That's why the Native American Rights Fund’s Tribal Water Institute created The Headwaters Report. The report breaks down the ins and outs of tribal water law, updates what’s going on in the courts and Congress, and highlights what water issues are on the horizon.
Daniel Cordalis, a staff attorney with the Colorado-based group, said some tribes will pay third-party firms thousands of dollars a month to provide them with that information.
“And it's information every tribe should have,” he continued. “And the cost is a barrier to getting this kind of information for a lot of tribal nations, and it shouldn't be one. I think it lifts the whole tribal communities up if they're able to have the same information.”
Cordalis said safeguarding tribal waters is increasingly important in the West, where drought is shrinking tribes’ water supplies, wildfires are damaging their watersheds, and population booms are straining water resources.
“We believe that this work is as important as any for tribes to maintain communities and to build economies and to support their own tribal sovereignty in the coming years,” Coradalis added.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
