Tohono O’Odham leader urges House to extend funding for water settlements
Tohono O’odham Chairman Edward D. Manuel testified before a Congressional panel that lack of water has hurt the tribe’s economy./Keerthi Vedantam, Cronkite News
Tohono O’odham Chairman Edward D. Manuel testified Thursday that lack of water has been killing crops and livestock – and, essentially, the tribe’s economy – and things will only get worse if federal funding is allowed to lapse.
That’s why Manuel joined officials from other tribes, utilities and advocacy groups to urge passage of a bill by Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Tucson, that would make permanent a federal fund used to help the government meet its obligations under legal settlements over water-rights issues.
“If our settlement runs out of funding for delivery (of water), we could face the closure of tribal farms which we’ve invested millions of dollars, layoffs of tribal employees that work on the farms,” Manuel told the House Natural Resources Committee. “It will be critical to identify a stable, reliable source of funding.”