Aug 17, 2026 · 5 min · 8 segments
The Fort Mojave tribe's river water allotment largely goes to alfalfa and cotton operations, which pay for healthcare, housing and more. But as agencies negotiate over water, tribes are often left…
Jimmy Romo
Jill FreitasHost
The Colorado River stretches 1,450 miles across the U.S. And for just 17 miles, the river flows through the Fort Mojave Indian Tribes Reservation, which spans across three states, Arizona, California, and Nevada.
Let's go to the pumps.
That's the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe Chairman Timothy Williams on a humid triple-digit day in the valley.
the tribe has roughly been allotted 133,000 acre-feet of water a year, enough to sustain over a quarter of a million households.
Most of that goes to their alfalfa and upland cotton operation, which pays for their healthcare services, housing, a state-of-the-art elementary school, and other services.
But as states, cities, and the federal government fight over the future of the river, all of that is at risk, and tribes like the Fort Mojave are often left out of the negotiations.
There is a long history of not successfully including tribes in basin governance or water management.
That was Jay Weiner, a water attorney for the Kitson Indian Tribe, co-founder and member of the Water and Tribes Initiative leadership team.
And so there is a significant tension there and difficulty presented by not bringing tribes to the table.
The Colorado River stretches 1,450 miles across the U.S. And for just 17 miles, the river flows through the Fort Mojave Indian Tribes Reservation, which spans across three states, Arizona, California, and Nevada.
Let's go to the pumps.
That's the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe Chairman Timothy Williams on a humid triple-digit day in the valley.
the tribe has roughly been allotted 133,000 acre-feet of water a year, enough to sustain over a quarter of a million households.
Most of that goes to their alfalfa and upland cotton operation, which pays for their healthcare services, housing, a state-of-the-art elementary school, and other services.
But as states, cities, and the federal government fight over the future of the river, all of that is at risk, and tribes like the Fort Mojave are often left out of the negotiations.
There is a long history of not successfully including tribes in basin governance or water management.
That was Jay Weiner, a water attorney for the Kitson Indian Tribe, co-founder and member of the Water and Tribes Initiative leadership team.
And so there is a significant tension there and difficulty presented by not bringing tribes to the table.
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