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The 30 Tribal Nations in the Colorado River Basin are sovereigns. What does that mean? Roughly two years in the making, a recently released, collaboratively authored policy brief from the Water & Tribes Initiative (WTI), Tribal Sovereignty in the Colorado River Basin and Beyond, addresses this fundamental question. Framed around the WTI policy brief, this WRRC Water Webinar will offer an historical perspective on Tribal sovereignty within the United States; delve into foundational principles of modern Tribal sovereignty; and examine Tribal sovereignty in practice, both internal governance and intergovernmental relations, with special emphasis on the 30 Colorado River Basin Tribes. Animating the webinar (and policy brief) is the view that greater understanding of Tribal sovereignty is much needed across the basin community. In light of the climate crisis and its profound impacts on the basin’s hydrology (i.e., aridification), this understanding is indispensable to developing and implementing the cooperative measures required now and in the future to sustainably manage the Colorado River.
Jason Robison is the Jerry W. Housel/Carl F. Arnold Distinguished Professor of Law, as well as the Co-Director of the Gina Guy Center for Land & Water Law, at the University of Wyoming. Honored to be a member of the Water & Tribes Initiative (WTI) Leadership Team, Robison served as a co-author of WTI’s newest policy brief, Tribal Sovereignty in the Colorado River Basin & Beyond. His recent articles in this vein include Tripartite Water Cosovereignty, 135 Yale L.J. 2886 (2026) and Relational River: Arizona v. Navajo Nation & the Colorado, 72 UCLA L. Rev. 16 (2025).
Jay Weiner is Of Counsel to the majority Indian-owned firm Rosette, LLP, has worked on multiple Indian water rights settlements, and represents clients in adjudications and other water-related proceedings in Arizona, California, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. Weiner previously worked as a staff attorney for the Montana Reserved Water Rights Compact Commission, and as an assistant attorney general in the Montana Attorney General’s Office. He now also serves as an administrative law judge for the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation hearing contested cases regarding DNRC water rights permit and change decisions.