2 minute read
Addressing tribal water policy in Arizona
Continued drought and cuts to Colorado River water allocations make policy decisions on the future of water in the American Southwest a top priority.
Gaps in water policies have historically left tribal communities with limited access to clean water and infrastructure. For over 60 years, the Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe in Arizona have been engaged in legal battles to secure their water rights.
Cora Tso is a senior research fellow with the Kyl Center for Water Policy at ASU’s Morrison Institute for Public Policy. With support from the Arizona Water Innovation Initiative, Tso has been working with Arizona tribes, state and federal agencies, ASU’s tribal partnership program, and other key communities to develop collaborative water solutions and policy recommendations. Additionally, she works to identify key policy gaps and challenges that affect tribal water access, as well as documenting the current water usage, rights and allocation policies and laws among tribal nations across Arizona.
She is particularly well suited to address tribal water policy issues as both a lawyer specializing in Indian and water law and an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation. She was brought up in the small community of Shonto on the Navajo Nation in northeastern Arizona, where her family still lives.
In May, The Navajo Nation, Hopi tribe and San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe approved a landmark settlement. If affirmed by Congress, the agreement will end the tribes’ long struggle for water security.
Tso developed a document that explains this water settlement and why it is important. She also led a webinar, hosted by the Kyl Center, in which experts involved in the settlement discussed what it means for the parties involved and Arizona as a whole.
