ABOUT THIS BOOK

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.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

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.

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

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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