Why is the Arizona Water Settlements Act so important?
The ultimate objective of our community is to have gaming as a secondary resource. Our water settlement is going to be key in how we can develop. It’s an economic thing but it’s also a cultural thing. Historically, we’re an agricultural society, all the way back to the Hohokam. We’ve been farmers for centuries. I guess it’s in our blood. So water’s very important to our people. What’s the status of the historic water settlement? It’s in the Senate Energy Committee right now. It’s due to be marked up July 14. What will that mean for the River People? It will bring 653,500 acre feet of water a year. That’ll mean that we can open up areas in our community that we’ve slated for agriculture. We intend to irrigate 146,000 acres of land here on the reservation. In the southeast Valley, land that was farmland is going away. It seems like we’re creating a huge need for agriculture nearby. Is that something you’ll be stepping up to fill? Yes, and that’s the main idea. As an economic development
