President Joe Biden has approved three bills that will improve water access for three tribes in Arizona amid an unrelenting drought.
One of the measures Biden signed Thursday resolves longstanding water rights claims for the Hualapai tribe, whose reservation borders a 100-mile stretch of the Colorado River that runs through the Grand Canyon. Hualapai will have the right to divert up to 3,414 acre-feet of water per year, along with the ability to lease it within Arizona.
One acre-foot is enough to supply two to three average homes per year.
ARIZONA TRIBES STRUGGLING FOR ACCESS TO WATER
Three bills have been passed to improve water access for three Arizona tribes, including the Hualapai Tribe, the Colorado River Indian Tribes and the White Mountain Apache Tribe. Pictured: The Colorado River flows through the Grand Canyon on the Hualapai Reservation on August 15, 2022.
(AP Photo/John Locher, File)
Another of the bills gives Colorado River Indian tribes based in Parker the ability to lease water from the Colorado River. The tribe has one of the oldest, largest, and most secure water allotments in the entire river basin that spans seven western states.
The tribe may lease only a portion of its Arizona allotment within the state. It also has water rights to the Colorado River in California.
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The third bill modifies a 2010 water rights agreement for the White Mountain Apache tribe in eastern Arizona, authorizing additional funding and extending deadlines to complete a rural water system and dam.
Congress approved the bills late last year.
