BLANDING — As the Colorado River faces historically low levels, Native American tribes that have depended on its life-sustaining waters for generations are raising concerns about the impacts on their communities, economies and cultural traditions.
The Navajo Nation, which includes portions of southeastern Utah, northeastern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico, is actively working to secure water rights settlements in Arizona crucial for their agricultural and municipal needs.
Bidtah N. Becker, chief legal counsel for the Navajo Nation, told St. George News there is an urgency to secure the tribe's legal rights to the Colorado River in Arizona, calling it their "No. 1 issue."
Becker explained that while the tribe secured water rights settlements in Utah in 2022 and in New Mexico in 2009, members still lack a legal water allocation in Arizona. A proposed bill in Congress, the Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement Act of 2025, seeks to address this gap.
The bill involves partnerships with the Hopi Tribe, the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, the state of Arizona and more than 30 municipalities and communities in northern Arizona.
