Hotspots H2o

Welcome to “What’s Up With Water” - your need-to-know news of the world’s water from Circle of Blue. I’m Eileen Wray-McCann. On March 20, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a lawsuit that could change water use patterns in the drying Colorado River basin. The Navajo Nation claims that the federal government has failed in its legal duty to ensure sufficient water for the tribe. That includes claims to water from the Colorado River, which is adjacent to the Navajo reservation. The lawsuit asserts that the U.S. government must determine the Navajo Nation’s water needs and devise a plan to meet those needs. The water in the basin is fully spoken for, so water for the Navajo Nation would come from another use. Legal scholars who are not party to the lawsuit say that the Navajo Nation should prevail in this dispute for two reasons. First, the federal government has near total control of the lower basin of the Colorado River and second, the government has a longstanding legal obligation to secure water for