09/17/2026
The Past, Present and Future of Water on the Wind River Indian Reservation: A Case Study on Indigenous Sovereignty, Water Rights and Climate Change Adaptation
Thursday, October 8, 2026, 11 AM - 12 PM MT
The Wind River Reservation offers a powerful case study on the historical and contemporary challenges Tribal Nations across the American West face in quantifying and using their water in alignment with their values. On paper, the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes hold some of the most senior water rights in the West — Wyoming didn't become a state until decades after treaties were signed — with a reserved right to roughly 40% of the water flowing through the Reservation in an average year. Yet in practice, the Tribes face significant barriers to using their water. This webinar covers the history and legal context behind today's challenges, including the 37-year legal battle that quantified the Tribes' water right while restricting its use, chronic federal underinvestment, and decades of broken promises. We'll then survey pressing present-day challenges: a severely dilapidated irrigation system, insufficient water storage, and a changing climate reshaping water availability. Most importantly, we’ll conclude with the solutions Tribal water managers and leaders are pursuing to utilize their water in ways that will nourish their communities for seven generations to come.
Register here: https://cuboulder.zoom.us/meeting/register/tO07V66gQsS9Ycu5aDk-1w
