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2. Maureen McCarthy - Loretta Singletary
USDA/NIFA Project Directors Meeting
Washington, DC 12 Oct 2016
Native Waters on Arid Lands -
Enhancing Climate Resiliency on
Reservation Lands

3. NWAL Team
 UNR - Maureen McCarthy, Loretta Singletary, Staci Emm
 DRI - Beverly Ramsey
 USGS – Michael Dettinger
 Ohio University – Derek Kauneckis
 FALCON – John Phillips
 Utah State – Kynda Curtis, Eric Edwards
 U Arizona – Bonnie Colby, Karletta Chief, Trent Teegerstrom
 Nevada/Arizona FRTEP Extension Educators
 TCU NWAL Advisors, faculty, students
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4. Engaging Great Basin and Southwestern
Tribes in Sustaining Water Resources
“Indigenous peoples in North America have a
long history of understanding their societies as
having an intimate relationship with their
physical environments. Their cultures, traditions,
and identities are based on the ecosystems and
sacred places that shape their world...water is
life and water is sacred.”
(Chief, et al., Water 2016, 8, 350)
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5. NWAL Team integrating research and outreach
• Focusing research on nine reservations (Gila River,
Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT), Navajo, Hopi, Zuni,
Walker River, Pyramid Lake, Duck Valley, Uintah/Ouray
• Downscaling climate models and hydrology impacts to
reservation scale
• Conducting applied agriculture and resource economic
analysis to better understand opportunities and
barriers to enhance resilience
• Building Knowledge Portal for secondary data sharing
• Organizing Annual Tribal Summits with Western U.S.
tribes, research partners, agency partners
• Establishing new TCU faculty-student internships
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6. Research Areas
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7. Research in partnership with Tribes
• Participatory research
identifies barriers and
opportunities for
sustaining agriculture
on reservation lands
• People of the Land
serves as a model for
this research
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8. Research Areas
• Climate Risks
• Water Resources
• Agricultural Resiliency
• Traditional Knowledge and Ecology
• Invigorating Reservation Economies
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9. Regional Climate Risks
Predictions for Great Basin & American Southwest:
 Decreasing water supplies
 Longer droughts
 More rain/less snow
 Increased intensity of monsoonal storms
 Reduced surface water availability
 Declining groundwater supplies
 Warmer temperatures
What can tribal famers and ranchers do to adapt?
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10. Water Rights in the American West based on
Prior Appropriations
First in Line/First in Right
Based on 1850’s Mining Law
Beneficial Use
Agriculture Production
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11. Water Resources
• Water Rights
• Ground-Surface water
interdependencies
• Water infrastructure –
reliability/adaptability
• Water Quality
Colorado River Indian Tribes
Alfalfa Production
Animas River Spill 2015 Navajo Nation
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12. Agricultural Resiliency
• Production Crops
• Fisheries
• Livestock
Navajo Sheep
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13. Traditional Knowledge and Ecology
• Traditional drought
resilient corn (Hopi)
• Traditional knowledge for
crops and fisheries
(Navajo/Hopi/Pyramid
Lake)
• Paleo and current
ecological watersheds
(Gila River, Navajo/Hopi,
Walker, Duck Valley)
Hopi Corn
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14. Invigorating Economies
• Innovative water
resource management
• Water adaptation
strategies
leasing/banking/trading
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16. Tribal water-ag drought resilience compounded by
historical land use and water policies
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Fallowed
fields
Reduced fish
supplies Dry
wetlands

17. Water Wisdom
Tribal Knowledge is vital to humanity’s future
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