Report Finds GOP Failure to Approve Water Rights Settlements is Devastating Indian Country Across the United States
Washington, D.C. – A new report from the House Natural Resources Committee Democrats titled “Water Delayed is Water Denied: How Congress Has Blocked Access to Water for Native Families” finds that nearly 48 percent of U.S. homes on Native American land – in contrast to less than 1 percent of U.S. homes overall – do not have access to reliable water sources, clean drinking water or basic sanitation, a problem exacerbated by the refusal of today’s Republican congressional majority to approve water rights settlements. The report, available at http://bit.ly/2dIZmrz, highlights the ways in which Congress and, historically, federal agencies have denied Native American communities access to water to which they already hold an undeniable legal claim.
Native American tribes were granted legal rights to water access when they were first recognized – rights the Supreme Court has consistently upheld. Unfortunately, the process of turning a legal claim to water into “wet water” that tribal members can actually use can be expensive and time-consuming, especially in areas where dams, water diversions and other water users have stood in the way.
As the report shows, water rights settlements reached through a collaborative multi-party process are the most cost-effective way for tribes to assert their valid legal water claims. Unfortunately, recent Republican refusals to fund water rights settlements – and the party’s history of refusing to approve those settlements in the first place – have exacerbated Indian Country’s already chronic lack of access to water.
The report outlines the public health, educational and economic consequences of Indian Country’s chronic lack of access to clean water and demonstrates why Republican resistance to approving water rights settlements – the most realistic alternative to lawsuits – makes it more likely that these impacts will worsen. Since Republicans took control of the House of Representatives in 2011, Congress has not funded a single Indian Country water rights settlement.
This lack of access to clean water has led, in various cases, to high levels of exposure to arsenic, uranium, bacteria and other contaminants on Indian reservations and the resulting health impacts. The report highlights multiple cases representative of the larger problem across the country.
As the report shows:
In the 38 years since the first water settlement was approved, only 17 percent of settlements have been enacted when Republicans held the majority of both houses of Congress. In contrast, 72 percent of settlements were enacted when Democrats controlled both houses. Ten percent were enacted during times of split leadership.
This pattern has worsened in recent years. In the six years since Republicans took control of the House in the 2010 election, Congress has not funded a single Indian water rights settlement despite numerous settlement bills being introduced. A new process instituted by Representative Rob Bishop (R-UT) when he became Chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources in 2015 has created an additional hurdle for settlement approval in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Water rights settlements agreed to by Native American communities, water users and federal agencies are more cost-effective than lawsuits, which sometimes take decades to resolve. Blocking water rights settlements continues the ongoing cycle of slow economic growth, poor health and reduced educational opportunities in Indian Country.
“The health, welfare and legal rights of Native Americans have been subjected to partisan ideology for far too long, and our report shows why it has to stop,” Grijalva said. “Republicans talk about local control and then prevent Native children from accessing clean water for inappropriate and paternalistic reasons. Indian Country is not a playground for their theories about what’s really best for Native families. Clean water is a fundamental part of a thriving community, and the longer Indian Country goes without it, the longer we’ll continue to see the serious health and economic problems we do today.”
Press Contact
Diane Padilla
(202) 225-6065 or (202) 306-1333
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