As a young girl growing up on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation, Lorelei Cloud learned the value of water in life lessons every week outside her uncle’s home. “I lived with my grandparents in an old adobe home they had remodeled. We didn’t have any running water and so we always hauled water to our house,” says Cloud, Vice Chairman of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe in southwest Colorado. … Those early memories – of water scarcity, not abundance – have helped shape Cloud’s work today as a state leader in water conservation, and as a champion for Tribal voices in water decision-making in Colorado. Native American Tribes hold some of the most senior water rights in the Colorado River Basin and have thousands of years of knowledge about water management. But they have been historically excluded from decisions around allocations and management of the river and water resources. And on many Reservations, including the Southern Ute, access to clean, safe drinking water is still far from universal.

Other tribal water articles:

• Brown Political Review: High and dry
• Sen. Krysten Sinema news release: Sinema, Kelly announce nearly $107 million investment to strengthen Gila River Indian Community’s water supply