The Navajo Nation had some recent controvery over the water rights of the Dine people. The Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement Agreement (NAIWRSA) is a Legislation that was created in an attempt to resolve the water rights claims from the Navajo Nation and the Hopi Tribe. This Legislation would only give the Navajo Nation 31,000 acre-feet per year of 4th Priority Colorado River water. This water would not be accessable during droughts and would cost an extra $500 million of federal funding to install a pipeline that would deliver the water to needy communities, which would be given from the U.S. Congress. The water would also go directly to the reservation, but the Nation does not accept this as something that would be good for the people of the Dine and Hopi Tribes.Non-native Stanley Pollack was one of the lawyers that created the Legislation, and many of the Najaho Nation believe that this was a bad idea.
The Dine believe that water is sacred to their way of life, giving them means to live, perform ceremonies and keep their animals alive. They strongly believe that if this Legislation went through, it would most likely disrupt their way of life and make their living conditions even worse than they are now. The council of the Navajo Nation heard these please and decided to give the Legislation another week to decide whether to activate it or leave it be.
Some questions that were asked during my presentaion were:
Where did I find my information?
My information was found on the Census News website. This sight has updated events about the Navajo Nation, and some public addresses made concerning their environment, water rights, and other topics about their reservation and way of life.
Does the water go directly to the reservation?
Yes the water goes directly to the reservation. If the pipeline were to be made it would carry water from the Little Colorado River to the reservation.
Is the Legislation going to be reviewed?
The Legislation is going to be reviewed a week from October 8, so this date will decide if the Legislation is going to be active in the Navajo Nation or not.
Probing Question:
Can water rights make a difference on a reservation?
Water rights can make a difference on a reservation yes. But I dont really think they would need them, if its on their reservation than why do they really have to have rights to it? I think they dont need the rights to the water is on their land so they should be allowed to use it whenever at no expense to them or anyone
ReplyDeleteI think that water rights would make a difference on a reservation. I think the reason for this is because water is such a valuable resource and is needed by everybody on the reservation. Water can be used for many different things, and I think it is extremely important on a reservation.
ReplyDeleteWell as much as we think of water as such a given item, not all people have the same access to it as we do. If the Indian had water it would help them a lot in day to day things. First of all they wouldn't need to load up trucks full of water for the week and waste their time. It would be very beneficial to them to have running water to drink, bathe, and do dishes with. Water is used for all different kinds of things, and it could allow the reservations to stop thinking about how they would get water that day, but on other major problems that they have.
ReplyDeleteI think water is very important to them on a reservation. In our eveeryday liife, we may not notice how much we use water, by taking showers, doing dishes and brushing our teeth. I agree with Marissa on that they shouldnt need the rights to the water, they should be able to have it because its on their land, and making them pay for it all isnt fair.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think water rights can make a huge difference in the reservation. Since the Dine and Hopi tribes regard water as sacred, it should be left alone. The tribe really should have water rights to the river since it's in their own reservation. Or at least, they should have the rights to the part of the river in their reservation. Water rights should be given to the tribe also because they seem to be the ones who need it the most. Many of us do not have difficulty with certain resources like tribes do.
ReplyDeleteYes water makes a huge difference on the reservations! Most reservations do not have a clean water supply or even running water, so what water they do have they find very sacred. Also, Native Americans use water for other things such as ceremonies. Water for the indians is very scarce, but they never waste it like we do. So when they actually have rights to water, they can possibly leave a little easier and not have to worry about if they will have clean water or not that day. If the water runs on their land they should be able to use some if not all of it for their own purposes. It is their land therefor being partially their water.
ReplyDelete