Water in the west is certainly instrumental in supporting western industry, agriculture, and recreation, but the water that flows in rivers and gathers in lakes also has an integral role in Native American culture and ways of life. Tribal claims to water are thus more than a matter of legal rights.

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Wesley Edmo/David Getches exchange
Edmo: Shoshone-Bannock Tribe & Treasurer, Fort Hall Business Council

• What do you see in terms of the western states' approach . . . will they continue to ignore tribes, or will they recognize our guaranteed treaty rights? . . . if not, we feel that is a form of cultural genocide.
       

David Getches
Raphael J. Moses Professor of Natural Resources Law at the University of Colorado School of Law

• The reality of these Indian water rights claims is that they are . . . almost indisputable.
       

Aaron Miles Sr./David Getches exchange
Miles: Nez Perce Tribe, Director, Natural Resources Department

• Everybody is telling the Indians to quit fishing but nobody is telling the farmer to plant shrubbery or riparian zones around their farm fields.
       

Marti Bridges/John Keys exchange
Bridges: TMDL (total maximum daily load) program manager, Idaho Department of Environmental Quality

• The state of Idaho has only 400 miles of instream water rights approved -- that's less than half a percent of the over a hundred thousand miles of streams.
       

John Keys
Commissioner for the Bureau of Reclamation

• If you throw everything in the ashcan, you throw away the infrastructure that guarantees the water that we all depend upon.
       

Brian Wallace
Chairman for the Washoe Tribe of Nevada

• In the context of Indian water rights, it appears that the tools that we have to sort these issues out and the environment that we are working in is doctrinally conflictive, [that is, the ability] of the trustee to uphold the public trust and the Indian trusts puts [the federal government] in a conflict of interest and [creates] very difficult and challenging choices.
       

David Getches
Raphael J. Moses Professor of Natural Resources Law at the University of Colorado School of Law

• Tribal rights to groundwater are part of the same package as reserved rights to a flowing stream.
       

Delbert Farmer
Shoshone-Bannock Tribe

• The real issue is . . . the clouds . . . we all know that's where the water comes from. So what is this deal about "prior appropriation" or "first in time" and "beneficial use." It's the clouds . . . As far as Shoshone Bannock is concerned . . . we lay claim to the clouds.
       

Albert Barker
Attorney

• I don't want to leave the impression that the claims for off-reservation rights in particular are indisputable because . . . we are seeing the Winters doctrine attempted to be expanded . . . off of the reservation to make water right claims.
       

Wendy Wilson
Organizational development consultant, River Network; Lobbyist and spokesperson for environmental causes

• I'm interested in getting water back in streams and ensuring rivers have water rights for many purposes . . . Why aren't we requiring that every time a water right is transferred from an irrigation to municipal use that the fish, the birds, the wildlife, the Indians all get a 25% kickback . . .
       

Kay Brothers
Deputy General Manager of Southern Nevada Water Authority Engineering and Operations

• "Environmental issues" are no longer dirty words.
       

David Getches
Raphael J. Moses Professor of Natural Resources Law at the University of Colorado School of Law

• The biggest challenge is the way we make decisions about how we're going to use water.
       

Robert Matt
Wildlife Manager, Coeur d'Alene Tribe

• What sense of obligation needs to be retained in addressing impacts of the past . . . as we look to even an expanded use of capturing water for human needs into the future?
       

David Getches
Raphael J. Moses Professor of Natural Resources Law at the University of Colorado School of Law

• One of the interests that is often forgotten in the discussion of water rights is what's fair.
       

Kay Brothers
Deputy General Manager of Southern Nevada Water Authority Engineering and Operations

• We can't ignore what happened in the past, but we need to strike compromises.
       

John Keys
Commissioner for the Bureau of Reclamation

• . . . at the time it seemed like the best thing to do.