A Question Of Balance

THE NAVAJO NATION HAS FIRST RIGHTS TO THE WATER AROUND IT, YET PAYS THE MOST AND GETS THE LEAST

- ELLIOT ROSS

IN THE NAVAJO NATION-A SWEEPING LANDscape of red-rock canyons and desert that takes in the Four Corners-water is not taken for granted. Here, more than 1 in 3 Diné, as Navajo people call themselves, must haul water to their homes, often across long distances. The Diné use the least amount of water per person of anyone in the U.S., and pay the most.

Eighty miles away, residents of Utah's Washington County rely on essentially the same water supply, yet pay less for that water than almost anyone else in the U.S. and, until recently, consumed the most. The contrast reflects not only inequities of power and access. It also carries a warning that reaches beyond two arid communities. A megadrought has desiccated the American West, which is drier than it has been in 1,200 years. On June 22, the planet experienced its hottest day in recorded history, breaking a record set one day earlier. Dust clouds churn on the horizon. Much of the world may be headed this way.

The problem, as old as the land itself, was predicted. The hydrology of the Colorado River Basin is highly variable, a fact that was not fully appreciated (or was flatly ignored) by those who drafted the foundational policy that governs water use in much of the West-the 1922 Colorado River Compact. Despite warnings from experts, the compact based the amount of water to be divided among its signatories on a brief period that proved to be one of the wettest in history. This flaw was compounded by tremendous population growth, Indigenous dispossession, competing values, procrastination, and deadlocked disputes over how water is used.