Understanding the Yavapai-Apache Nation Water Rights Settlement

The Verde River is one of Arizona’s most important waterways. Beginning from its headwaters north of Prescott and eventually flowing into the Salt River east of Scottsdale, the Verde supplies water to surrounding communities, as well as to the Phoenix metro area.

The Yavapai-Apache Nation’s Water Rights Settlement Agreement aims to settle the Yavapai-Apache Nation’s water rights claims and to ensure the long-term health of the Verde River. The settlement agreement is one of two Indian water rights settlements in Arizona that are awaiting Congressional approval.

Cora Tso, senior research fellow with the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University’s Morrison Institute, has been working to dissect and explain Indian water rights settlements across the state. 

Tso recently developed an explainer and hosted a related webinar on the Yavapai-Apache Nation’s settlement agreement that included Tanya Lewis, Chairwoman of the Yavapai-Apache Nation; Robyn Prud’homme-Bauer, Mayor of Clarkdale; Patrick Adams, Senior Water Policy Advisor to Governor Hobbs and Lucas Shaw, Director of Water Rights and Contracts for the Salt River Project.

The Yavapai-Apache Nation Water Rights Settlement Agreement

Located in Arizona’s Verde Valley, the Yavapai-Apache Nation spans five reservation districts with diverse water challenges. The Nation has both a small land base and population relative to many other Tribes in Arizona but shares historical and modern challenges related to their land and water rights security and protection. The proposed water rights settlement agreement includes a substantial commitment to meeting the Tribe’s water needs while balancing the interests of surrounding communities.

The settlement agreement involves a mix of water sources, from groundwater to surface water, and extends to an agreement for access to Colorado River water through the Nation’s 1980 Central Arizona Project contract. At the heart of the settlement is an ambitious plan for infrastructure improvements. The projects are geared towards making water accessible and usable for the community. 

“One of the most significant projects included in the settlement agreement is the construction of the Cragin-Verde Pipeline Project, which will connect the Yavapai-Apache Nation to a reliable and sustainable water source,” says Tso. “In addition to this pipeline project, the settlement also contemplates funding a drinking water system project and water distribution system to ensure safe water for all Tribal members.”

Commitment to the Verde River

The Nation is committed to preserving the Verde River as well. Yavapai-Apache Nation leadership have stressed how vital it is to maintain the flow of the Verde River.

“We worked with the Town of Clarkdale, the City of Cottonwood, the Town of Camp Verde, everyone in Yavapai County. We're partners, doing this together. The Verde River feeds all of us,” said Lewis, the Yavapai-Apache Nation Chairwoman during the webinar. “We said, let's sit in a room and get this done for the betterment and health of the Verde River, to be good stewards, and also for downstream communities. This is our last free-flowing river in Arizona and we need to protect it.”

The settlement agreement also includes an “instream flow” right, which would ensure the continued flow of water in the Verde River for cultural, religious and ecological purposes. By securing this right through state law, the Nation aims to provide stronger legal protection for the river, ensuring that future generations can continue to benefit from a healthy river system.

Though the settlement agreement was introduced in the last congressional session, it did not receive a vote; neither did the Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement Agreement. However, Tso says there is optimism that it will be reintroduced in the coming months, with the hope that it will receive the authorization and funding it needs.

The road ahead

Looking forward, the Yavapai-Apache Nation’s settlement agreement demonstrates the potential for Tribes to secure water supplies through collaborative negotiations with local and state governments. 

Adams, the Senior Water Policy Advisor to Governor Hobbs, reinforced the state's commitment to being a partner in these efforts, saying during the Kyl Center webinar: "The state of Arizona and Governor Hobbs are really interested in being a partner and collaborator in Tribal water settlements."

Furthermore, it shows how creative infrastructure solutions—such as connecting to existing water infrastructure systems—can help alleviate some of the financial burdens typically associated with large-scale water projects.

Tso is currently developing a reference guide to Arizona’s Tribal water rights settlements, both those that have been fully resolved and partially resolved. Tribal nations like the Yavapai-Apache Nation have faced challenges asserting their water rights given the ties between water and land holdings in the western US, and Tso, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, says it is particularly important to analyze these agreements from an Indigenous perspective. 

“I think it's critical to recognize the history of federal Indian policy and state policy and how it has shaped the Tribes’ ability to assert their claims,” said Tso. “That’s something that we have to consider when we’re looking at Indian water rights settlements today. It’s not just about resolving water rights; it’s also about addressing the longstanding impacts of those broader historical contexts.”

Agreements like the Yavapai-Apache Nation Water Rights Settlement can serve as a model for how collaboration and creative thinking can help balance the needs of communities.

“Indian water rights settlements have always been used as a tool to help assist Tribal nations and other non-Tribal communities in the state of Arizona and I think it’s really important to view these agreements as a benefit-for-all, which helps us create smart water policy for the next generation,” says Tso. “I think this settlement has a lot of potential to inspire collaboration between Tribal, state and local communities moving forward.”