In my literature class last winter, we read The Water Knife, a dystopian future book
centered around water rights in the American southwest. A central plot point of
this book was for the protagonist to get his hands on the water rights of the
Pima Indians, as they were the most senior rights and would enable him to get
water. CAP water was the alternative, and in the book, it was impossible to secure
CAP water, even if it was contracted out to a group. When I realized on one of
our first classes that the Tohono O’odham were ancestrally connected to the
Pima, I was really excited to talk about water rights and see how much truth
there was in The Water Knife.
I was
surprised by the in-depth legal research that the author must have done to
cover the complicated issue that is water rights. However, our class readings
made it clear that he certainly simplified the issue. In the book, there was not
really a discussion of the complication of transferring water rights,
especially not regarding the Pima rights. The resolution of the plot, when the
protagonist acquired the rights, had no mention of how he, a non-American
Indian, was expected to use the rights granted to the Pima tribe. In our
readings, we saw how difficult and expensive water rights transfers can be, and
the limitations that are placed on American Indian tribes selling their rights
off the reservation.
It is
understandable that the author didn’t go into detail about the legal processes
required to transfer water rights, as it was a fiction book intended to be enjoyable,
not a legal brief. The book still raises some interesting questions. At first
reading, it made me wonder what the future of water would be in America. Now,
after taking this course, it makes me wonder what role American Indian water
rights will play as water becomes increasingly scarce. It is not illogical to
think that as other resources are depleted, the incentive to allow sale of
American Indian rights will increase. At a certain point, it will likely be in
the best interest of companies to lobby for the ability to purchase American
Indian water rights. At a certain point, as scarcity increases, the price these
companies are willing to pay will make it in the best interest of the tribes to
sell their water rights. When these two points meet, things could get really
interesting.
I certainly
hope that in coming years we can reduce water consumption, or make water usage
more efficient, so that this point is never reached in our lifetimes. However,
it is a little too idealistic to say it will never be reached. Water is scarce,
and that scarcity is precarious. If it does increase to the point where other
resources are no longer viable options, it will be interesting to see what role American Indian water rights play.
Thank you for this post Maggie. I'll have to check out that book. Do you think it would be worth adding to the syllabus?
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