The United States government does not have a responsibility to “take affirmative steps to secure water” for the Navajo Nation, the US Supreme Court has ruled, dealing a blow to the Indigenous community’s efforts to outline its water rights amid historic drought.
In a 5-4 decision on Thursday morning, the top court said an 1868 treaty between the US government and the Navajo tribe that established the Navajo Reservation “reserved necessary water” for the community’s needs.
Water has long been a top concern for members of the Navajo Nation, whose territory spans more than 6.8 million hectares (17 million acres) across parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah in the western United States.
It is estimated that approximately 30 percent of the roughly 175,000 residents who live on the reservation—the largest in the country—do not have running water in their homes.
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