Tribes are submitting Colorado River ideas so they’re at the table, not “on the menu”
Tribes that use the Colorado River want a say in negotiations that will reshape how the river’s water is shared. Eighteen of those tribes signed on to a letter sent to the Bureau of Reclamation, the federal agency that will finalize new rules for managing the river after 2026, when the current guidelines expire. In the memo, tribal leaders urge the federal government to protect their access to water and uphold long-standing legal responsibilities. … The tribes’ letter aims to make sure that Indigenous people, who used the Colorado River before white settlers ever occupied the Western U.S., are not left behind as Reclamation considers those proposals. “If you are not at the table, you are on the menu,” Jay Weiner, a water lawyer for the Quechan Indian Tribe, said. Weiner, who helped craft the letter, said it aims to answer the complicated question: What do tribes want?