White Mountain Apache Chairwoman Gwendena Lee-Gatewood and Colorado River Indian Tribes Chairwoman Amelia Flores appeared before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee seeking funding to develop water infrastructure and approval of a bill that would let tribal water be sold to other parties.
Lee-Gatewood said her tribe needs additional time and funding for a rural water system that the federal government promised more than a decade ago.
Flores told Committee members the tribe has the opportunity to reallocate some of its water but needs the authorization to proceed.
Both leaders cited the ongoing regional drought in their appeals for urgency.
The White Mountain Apache bill would give the tribe two more years to break ground on a project that would place a dam across the White River’s North Fork and develop a water treatment and distribution system to replace the reservation’s failing wells. Environmental reviews and engineering problems have led to delays in the project, which was first promised in 2010. The bill would also add $250M in additional funding to offset the delays and overruns.
The second bill would allow the Colorado River Indian Tribes to lease a portion of their Colorado River allotment to other communities in Arizona and to reinvest the monies raised into improving tribal water infrastructure.
Both bills are sponsored by Arizona U.S. Senator Mark Kelly and are supported by fellow Senator Kyrsten Sinema. (Source)
