The US Senate passed two bills this week that could extend water rights on the Colorado River to two local tribes. These rights could allow tribes to lease water rights to other communities, a practice long opposed by river communities such as Mojave County, but this time may be an exception. Hmm.
On Monday, the Senate unanimously passed these bills. The Hualapai Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act and the Colorado River Indian Tribes Water Resiliency Act will each be voted on by the House of Representatives before arriving at the President’s desk next year.
In the Parker region, the Colorado River Native Tribes Water Resilience Act (also known as S. 3308) allows tribes to transfer a portion of their apportioned water rights to other areas of the lower Colorado River or to governments (whether they are tribes or not). (regardless of whether or not) can be leased or exchanged. or not.
The CRIT Water Resiliency Act was introduced by Arizona Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, defended by Rep. Congressman Paul Gosser also supported the bill.
Mojave County Superintendent Travis Lingenfelter, who has long opposed other water transfers, including pending transfer agreements between Cibola-based GSC Farms and the city of Queen Creek, backed the CRIT Act earlier this year. and said
“CRIT has allocated a large amount of water from the Colorado River and is not using all of it,” Lingenfelter said in August. “[Under the law]they can lease it to cities, towns and other locations, and provide another source of water if needed. It could be a way to minimize the kind of water transfer that we’ve seen in between.”
In a statement on the CRIT Media Facebook page, the tribe said: The vote was 397 to 12. The bill is now on the desk of President Joe Biden, who is due to be signed. The bill allows Colorado River Indian tribes to lease a portion of their water allotment on the Colorado River.
This law was created specifically to address the needs of the Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT) and provided Arizona with severe drought relief while preserving the CRIT’s overriding water rights. increase. ”
“On behalf of the members of the Tribal Council and the Colorado River Indian Tribe, we thank the members of Congress for working with us to pass this landmark legislation,” CRIT President Amelia Flores said in a statement. I would also like to thank the Arizona Department of Water Resources, the leaders of the Central Arizona Project, the tribal leaders who supported our law, and all of the elected officials of Arizona who supported CRIT who have worked on this law for years. We would also like to thank our leaders and stakeholders: In early 2019, our Tribe members voted overwhelmingly to allow the Tribal Council to pursue this law. , past and current members of the Tribal Council have worked continuously and collaboratively with Colorado River stakeholders to implement this law. caused the
The Hualapai Bill, also known as S. 4107, was introduced in April by U.S. Senator Kirsten Cinema. This bill ratifies the Water Settlement Agreement between the Tribes, Arizona, and the United States. The agreement expands the tribe’s groundwater and surface water rights, including the Colorado, Bill Williams and Verde rivers. The Act also gives the Hualapai Nation rights to divert, use and store 4,000 acre feet of river water per year previously held by the U.S. Department of the Interior.
The bill would also deposit funds in a tribal trust, which would allow construction of the Hualapai Water Project. The project will ultimately divert, treat and transport 3,414 acre feet of water annually from the Colorado River. For municipal, commercial, or industrial use on the Hualapai Reservation.
According to Mojave County Supervisor Gene Bishop, the legislation will benefit the Tribe while increasing the protection of Mojave County’s own groundwater resources.
“We stand by it,” Bishop said of the Mojave County Board of Supervisors this week. I guess.”
At least one sub-basin in the Hualapai Basin will dry up within the next 100 years until the Arizona Department of Water Resources approves protection of an aquifer-forming “irrigation extension area” earlier this week, according to county records. was at risk.
The Hualapai and Colorado River Indian tribes hope to expand their water rights next year, so final approval of the 2,000-acre-foot-a-year transfer agreement between the Scottsdale-based Greenstone Acquisition and Queen Creek is due next year. It may be done in the beginning. Earlier this month, the Mojave County Board of Supervisors voted in favor of participating in a joint legal representation agreement with Yuma City, Yuma County and La Paz, and opposed the transfer agreement.
Pioneer reporter John Gutkunst contributed to this article.
