Wednesday, August 5, 2026

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Photo: The Colorado River near Lees Ferry, Colo. in May 2026. (Chris Clements / KNAU)

The states that share the Colorado River have a new federal framework in place for managing the embattled waterway, but as KNAU’s Chris Clements reports, the impact of the U.S. government’s strategy on tribal nations is less clear.

The new framework from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation could result in steep cuts to the Central Arizona Project, a delivery system for Colorado River water.

That worries some tribal leaders like Orlando Carroll, chairman of the White Mountain Apache Tribe in eastern Arizona.

“We definitely would be concerned of any cutbacks that are generated.”

Under a federal settlement, Carroll’s tribe can lease its share of water from the river, but at least his tribe’s water rights have been spelled out.

Other tribes, like the Navajo, Hopi, and San Juan Southern Paiute are watching the U.S. put out a Colorado River management plan for the states, while their own water rights in Arizona remain unquantified.

Brenda Jesus is a Navajo Nation council delegate.

“I just don’t understand that they’ve gotten their water rights decree, yet in the year 2026, the Navajo Nation doesn’t have any.”

A settlement to give the Navajo Nation its water rights in Arizona is still under consideration in Congress.

Golden king crab season opened on Saturday in the Aleutian Islands.

This year, the total allowable catch for the region is 13% higher than it was last season, as Katie Reuther reports from KUCB.

Ethan Nichols is an Area Management Biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) based in Dutch Harbor.

He says this reflects a sizable increase for the western area of the fishery, at over a million and a half pounds this season.

“The quota in the east this year is a very slight decrease from last season, it’s down 4%. In the western area, it’s a large increase this year. It’s a 79% increase.”

Due to the size of the golden king crab fishery, it is split into two different management areas: one east of Atka and the other to the west, each with their own harvest levels.

“The east has more fishable depths or more fishable ground, whereas you get further west and much smaller islands that drop off quicker.”

That means better fishing in the eastern area. Even with a slight decrease in allowable catch this year, the eastern area’s limit is still more than double that of the west’s limit at over three million pounds.

Nichols says he is optimistic about the upcoming season.

“I think it’s a really unique crab fishery, just where the fishing occurs, it being a deep water fishery from a select few vessels, and I’m excited about the upcoming season.”

Just four vessels are expected to fish for golden king crab this season. The fishery was worth $29.5 million at the dock last year, according to preliminary figures from ADFG.

This year’s season ends next April.

Tribal historic preservation leaders are voicing concerns over proposed changes to the federal review process for projects that could affect sacred sites and cultural resources.

Last month, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation voted to advance a proposed rule revising Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, a key law requiring federal agencies to consider impacts on historic properties and consult with Tribal Nations.

The National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers says the proposal would weaken tribal consultation, narrow protections for places of religious and cultural significance, and give federal agencies greater authority over the review process.

The proposal now heads to federal review before it is published for public comment.

 

 

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Wednesday, August 5, 2026 — Tribes condemn federal Colorado River water use plan