As a child, Stephen Lewis heard stories about a river that, for the most part, no longer flowed. “How I grew up was that it was a theft, that it was stolen from us,” he told me late last year. “There was what we used to call the Mighty Gila River, and now it was just pretty much dry. There was no water.”
“What used to happen is that the powers that be would get together and figure out what to do, and then tell everyone else what the plan was,” Lewis said. “And what’s changed is that you just can’t do that anymore. Those days are over.” After the U.S. gained control of the area in the Mexican-American War, Pima leaders sought confirmation that their land rights would be respected, and were repeatedly assured that they would be. Army officers and government agents stationed in the region understood that the U.S. needed the Pima more than the other way around.
A few years after the settlement, the community took steps to make use of its entire water entitlement. It invested in hundreds of miles of canals to channel about two hundred thousand acre-feet of water to the reservation—which was used mostly to irrigate crops. They also took a further step, slogging through the complex bureaucratic and logistical process required to store the rest of their water underground.
Meanwhile, the NFL is sucking water out of the ground for stadium grass grown on a SOD FARM in PHOENIX. Utterly irresponsible, but hey, MONEY.
Worst in 1000 years? Stop making shit up
They already hold the right don't they? They were here first, and utilized the water resources with the best practices for community use and agriculture, while keeping the whole system healthy.