The Impacts of the Post-2026 Colorado River Discussions on Tribal Water Rights
Allie Parker • April 3, 2025

Why Tribal Nations Can’t Be Left Out of the Next Chapter in Colorado River Management

The Bureau of Reclamation 2007 Interim Operating Guidelines for the Colorado River are set to expire in 2026 and at the moment the seven Basin States Representatives are working on the Post-2026 Operating Guidelines. The uncertainty for the scarce resource of water is at the forefront of every lawmaker’s mind in the Western United States. Tribal Nations were left out of the original 1922 Colorado River Compact and now, as the expiration date approaches and negotiations become more urgent, Colorado River Tribal Water Rights Settlements are hoping to be approved by the 119th Congress as the Post-2026 Guidelines are being negotiated. 



Currently, the Navajo Nation is seeking ratification of water rights through S.953 and H.R.2025, the Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement Act, after it did not have the opportunity for NAIWRSA to be put to a vote before the 118th Congress in 2024. In January of 2025, the Navajo Nation was celebrating the decree for their Utah Upper Basin water rights following the passage of the Navajo Utah Water Rights Settlement and is now moving towards implementation. But now, the seven Basin States are worried about the Post-2026 Operating Guidelines. This time around, the Colorado River looks a little different than it did 103 years ago. Based on available records at the time, the Colorado River Compact assumed that there would be 16.4 Million Acre Feet flowing on average each year, but the reality has been much lower than that. Since 1922, there have been a number of additional agreements and court decisions that address the Colorado River that have been coined as the “Law of the River” and Post-2026 is the next chapter in the Colorado River’s management history.


NAIWRSA is set to settle water rights for the Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe, and San Juan Southern Paiute on the Colorado River, Little Colorado River, and relevant groundwater. Many members of these tribes do not have access to running water in their homes. Navajo President Nygren stated in a testimony before the House Natural Resources Committee, “[m]ore than 30 percent of Navajo households do not have running water and rely on hauling water.” The passing of this settlement will secure clean and reliable sources of water for the tribal communities.


In 2024, many Basin State submitted comment letters to the congressional hearings supporting NAIWRSA but also stated concerns that were holding them back from supporting a consensus for the passage. These tribal nations need this water and settlement to sustain their communities into the future, so it is not an option to push off settlement any longer.


The issue is further complicated by changes in funding from the Trump Administration. It is yet to be seen exactly how this will impact the Colorado River Post-2026 negotiations, but there are several funding streams aimed at helping to conserve water and limit the impacts of drought for the future that have been defunded. This has the potential to harm everyone that relies on the Colorado River for their water, including tribal nations, members of the seven Basin States, the United States as a whole, and it may even impact international implications as a water source for Mexico.  Tribes are continuing to keep the pressure on, but the seven Basin States need to split their attention between NAIWRSA and Post-2026 for the good of everyone in the United States.


SOURCES


 

An Update on the Post-2026 Operating Guidelines: Slowed Negotiations and Missed Deadlines

By Hunter LaClair • December 9, 2025
Last spring, my colleague wrote a post forecasting uncertainties surrounding the Post-2026 Operating Guidelines for the Colorado River Basin States’ negotiation. Now, just seven months later, the November deadline for state consensus regarding the Basin’s management has passed and precarity has compounded. Without an agreement by the new, February 14th, 2026 deadline, the federal government is slotted to assume a managerial role over the Basin’s water. While this outcome bears a familiar mark of uncertainty, it also carries major implications for the Tribal Nations that hold rights to the Basin. This post briefly summarizes the negotiations, their progression, and an important tribal consideration. To briefly refresh or acquaint new readers to this matter: the Post-2026 Operating Guidelines represent a complex management scheme for Lake Mead and Lake Powell’s water operations. In essence, the Guidelines determine how much water can be removed from the two reservoirs. Owing to the reservoirs’ ubiquity in the Western United States, these Guidelines will implicate the water rights of seven states and thirty Tribal Nations. The reality is multiple stakeholders divvy up a dwindling resource, negotiate slowly, and, resultingly, leave many unsure whether the States will reach consensus after recently missing the November 11 th deadline. Many variables factor into the stalling negotiations, including the Upper Basin’s reluctancy to accept water cuts and electoral accountability to respective state populaces. Important considerations for states with large tribal presences complicate these factors, like Arizona, where twenty-two of the Basin’s affected Tribes are located. While from the outset, several Tribes held senior water rights—entitling them to priority over junior right-holders—many Tribes have been forced to bargain away this advantageous position for much needed infrastructure. This phenomenon leaves Tribes within the Basin much more susceptible to State decisions to accept water cuts, hinging tribal access to the already scarce resource on interstate bargains like those now set to conclude in February. Together with the obvious challenges created by the missed deadline and fast-approaching February fallback, these dynamics create large obstacles for the Basin states as they look to reach consensus in the new year. Unfortunately, as so often occurs, tribal nations are left hanging in the balance awaiting state compromise. SOURCES  · Allie Parker, The Impacts of the Post-2026 Colorado River Discussions on Tribal Water Rights, U. Denv. Water L. Rev., (Apr. 3, 2025), https://www.duwaterlawreview.com/the-impacts-of-the-post-2026-colorado-river-discussions-on-tribal-water-rights . · U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Colorado River Post 2026 Operations, https://www.usbr.gov/ColoradoRiverBasin/post2026/ (last visited Oct. 30, 2025). · The Colorado River, Post-2026 Negotiations, https://coloradoriver.com/post-2026-negotiations/ , (last visited Oct. 30, 2025). · Shannon Mullane, What’s holding up the Colorado River negotiations? Experts break down the sticking points, Colorado Sun (Oct. 30, 2025), https://coloradosun.com/2025/10/30/colorado-river-negotiations-experts-sticking-points/ . · Arizona Department of Education, 22 Federally Recognized Tribes in Arizona, https://www.azed.gov/oie/22-federally-recognized-tribes-arizona (last visited Oct. 29, 2025). · NRDC, Colorado River Basin Tribes Address a Historic Drought–and Their Water Rights–Head-On, https://www.nrdc.org/stories/colorado-river-basin-tribes-address-historic-drought-and-their-water-rights-head (last visited Oct. 30, 2025). · Michael Elizabeth Sakas, Historically excluded from Colorado River policy, tribes want a say in how the dwindling resource is used. Access to clean water is a start, CPR News, https://www.cpr.org/2021/12/07/tribes-historically-excluded-colorado-river-policy-use-want-say-clean-water-access/ (Dec. 7, 2021).

Historically Low Snowpack in the Southern Rockies and its Effects on the Arid Southwest

By Matthew Scribner • April 15, 2025
Drought on Arrival: The Southwest’s Grim 2025 Outlook