Colorado River tribes take harder stance on basin negotiations
If federal officials want tribal support for Colorado River deals, they need to pay tribes to conserve, protect their future water use and include them in negotiations, tribal leaders said Wednesday at a conference in southwestern Colorado. Basin states and the federal government are negotiating a new set of operating rules to replace existing drought-response agreements that expire in 2026. Tribes weren’t included when the agreements were originally negotiated in 2007. Basin officials should not make the same mistake again, tribes say. … Compensating tribes for not using their water, and for choosing to cut back on the water they do use, is another key point [for the tribes.]
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