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I 8 TRIBAL WATER MANAGEMENT HANDBOOK I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I '" I, all areas of the West fannland cannot support crops with only natural precipitation; land must be irrigated with water artificially applied to it. Indian tribes possess great amounts of potentially irrigable land, but they do not have the storage projects or irrigation works to put that water on the ground. Under the Winters doctrine, Indian tribes also have claims to vast amounts of water: in 1984 the Western Governors' Association estimated that Indians may be entitled to as much as 44 million acre-feet of water, about three times the entire flow of the Colorado River. Accordingly, the question of water rights is of pervasive importance in Indian Country. John Gunther has wrinen "touch water in the West and you touch everything." Today, tribal leaders are keenly aware of these geographical and social imperatives and are taking steps to perfect their water rights and to put water to use. This undertaking has an immediacy, and yet tribes need to proceed deliberately so that it is done right. The tie between water and tribal economies, social needs, and traditional cultures is too compelling to proceed in uninfonned haste. The federal government's failure to provide funding for Indian water reclamation projects is well documented. In 1973, the National Water Commission commented on the government's widespread practice to provide major reclamation facilities for non-Indian farmers and failure to provide similar facilities for Indians, even though reservations often were located on the same streams. The National Water Commission concluded that "in the history of the United States Government's treannent of Indian tribes, its failure to protect Indian water rights for use on the Reservations it set aside for them is one of the sorrier chapters.,,18 No one doubts that the federal government's historical failure to provide funding for Indian water projects seriously has hamstrung Indian tribes. And no one expects much in the way of federal funds in the near future. In these budget-conscious times, Congress is reluctant to fund any new reclamation projects for Indians and non, Indians alike. In one sense, the current lack of water facilities in Indian Country can be viewed as an opportunity. In planning future water projects, tribes can engage in comprehensive, environmentally conscious watershed planning that seldom has been employed by federal or state agencies. Thus, although Indian tribes and their water managers face a substantial funding shonage, they have the chance to ensure that future water projects are done right The work of tribal water managers is crucial in another respect. No definitive court decision has detennined the extent of the right of Indian tribes to manage water resources within their reservations. Historically, state water agencies have had broad control over water development, and that tradition runs deep in western water law. Courts, therefore, will be forced to make choices between tribal and state management authority. Other areas of Indian law have shown that courts are sometimes reluctant to uphold tribal powers when there is a perceived inexperience or lack of expertise in tribal institutions. Thus, future court decisions on the extent of tribal authority over water may depend upon the capability and quality of tribally managed programs and of those individuals who administer them.