A Native American reservation recently compelled the Trump administration to release $105 million in previously frozen federal funds to protect the Colorado River.
The Gila River Indian Community, which holds a powerful water claim, issued an ultimatum that led to the release of the payments meant to support conservation efforts along the vital waterway.
Newsweek reached out to the Interior Department for comment on Thursday.
Why It Matters
Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States, provides water to some 40 million people in California, Arizona and Nevada. Its shrinking levels have been a crisis for decades.
What To Know
The Trump administration’s freeze on federal drought funding is part of a broader shake-up in water policy.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cut staffing at the Bureau of Reclamation, and the administration made abrupt changes to water allocations, including a decision to release billions of gallons in California that nearly caused downstream flooding following the wildfires in Los Angeles.
The Inflation Reduction Act allocated $4 billion for water conservation projects, including payments to farmers, cities, and tribes to reduce water consumption. However, the Trump administration blocked access to much of this funding, leaving many recipients in limbo.
The freeze put additional stress on communities relying on federal aid to implement water-saving measures.
Facing delays in funding for canal repairs and water conservation projects, the Gila River Indian Community withdrew 10,000 acre-feet from Lake Mead. This move pressured the administration to unfreeze its funding, a rare policy reversal under President Donald Trump.
Tribal leaders and officials in the West have lauded the Gila River Indian Community’s efforts.
Two of the four intake towers in the reservoir of Lake Mead at the Hoover Dam in Boulder City, Nevada, as seen on June 8, 2024. Two of the four intake towers in the reservoir of Lake Mead at the Hoover Dam in Boulder City, Nevada, as seen on June 8, 2024. Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
What People Are Saying
Stephen Roe Lewis, the Gila River Indian Community governor, in a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum: “We have given the Department every opportunity to avoid what would be a calamitous break in our longstanding partnership, with terrible consequences for the entire Basin.”
Democratic Arizona Senator Mark Kelly said of the funding freeze: “This is now a major, major problem.”
Democratic Colorado Senator John Hickenlooper said: “So much of what we’re negotiating is dependent upon, ‘You get this, we get that.'”
A spokesperson for the Interior Department told Politico that the agency is “dedicated to providing life-sustaining water and harnessing the significant hydropower the river offers.”
“We are actively engaging in dialogue with the Colorado River Basin partners as we work towards long-term operational agreements for the river after 2026. Throughout this effort, we remain committed to ensuring fiscal responsibility for the American people.”
What Happens Next
Small organizations relying on federal funding have been rushing to devise backup plans since the pause. Some leaders have warned that replacing the lost funds through donors or local governments would be challenging, NPR reported.
Um die besten Erfahrungen zu bieten, verwenden wir Technologien wie Cookies, um Geräteinformationen zu speichern und/oder darauf zuzugreifen. Wenn Sie diesen Technologien zustimmen, können wir Daten wie das Surfverhalten oder eindeutige IDs auf dieser Website verarbeiten. Die Nichteinwilligung oder der Widerruf der Einwilligung kann bestimmte Merkmale und Funktionen beeinträchtigen.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
