The Colorado River is the lifeblood for the Southern Ute and dozens of federally recognized tribes who have relied on it for drinking water, farming, and supporting hunting and fishing habitats for thousands of years. The river also holds spiritual and cultural significance. Today, 15 percent of Southern Utes living on the reservation in southwest Colorado don’t have running water in their homes at all. That rate is higher for other tribes that rely on the Colorado River, including 40 percent of the Navajo Nation.

Native American households are 19 times more likely to lack piped water services than white households, according to a report from the Water & Tribes Initiative. The data also show Native American households are more likely to lack piped water services than any other racial group. Leaders of tribes who depend on the Colorado River say the century-old agreement on managing a resource vital to 40 million people across the West is a major factor fueling these and other water inequalities.

State water managers and the federal government say they will include tribes in upcoming Colorado River policymaking negotiations for the first time.

Some tribal leaders view those promises as lip service and sent a letter to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland in November asking for legal changes to ensure tribes are included in the negotiations.

Read the full article about Colorado River allocation by Michael Elizabeth Sakas at The Counter.