And so that's where tribal rights to water stem from. It's so critical to daily life, economic growth, public health. And I think everyone would agree you can't have a homeland of any kind without water. And when they established these reservations, that came with the promise that those lands would be permanent homelands for the tribe and their people. TANANA: That claim really stems from federal policies of removing tribes and their citizens westward and onto reservations. RASCOE: Why does the Navajo Nation say it has a right to water from the Colorado River or other sources? HEATHER TANANA: (Non-English language spoken).

Professor Tanana, welcome to the program. She's also a citizen of the Navajo Nation. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah. To understand what's at stake, we're joined by Heather Tanana of the S.J. That's at the heart of a hearing the U.S. It's still trying to establish that it even has the right to file a lawsuit over the water. But water in the Southwest is precious, and some of the nearby states don't want to give up any of it. The Navajo Nation has been working through the courts for 20 years to get water from the Colorado River Basin.

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