Tribal officials: Colorado River talks ‘nowhere near sufficient’
Native American tribal leaders with a stake in the Colorado River Basin have regular meetings with top Interior Department officials, can claim progress toward major water rights settlements, and often appear on panels at key conferences with federal and state leaders. It’s a significant improvement compared to decades of exclusion of Indigenous people on decisions over the 1,450-mile-long river that supports 40 million people across seven states. But it’s also not enough, according to officials from some of those tribes — who argue their role still falls short of equal footing with states.