Instructions
1. Go to http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Po-Re/Prior-Appropriation.html to read about prior appropriation water rights.
2. Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgU895ln9P8 to watch a short video about prior appropriation water rights.
3. Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-gGa-ln6WQ to watch a short video about Indian water rights or Winters water rights.
4. Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WgrLnkEADw to watch a short video about the Tule River Tribe’s water rights conflict.
5. Read Steenstra’s A Case Study in Accommodating Indigenous Cultural Values in Water Resource Management (article posted in Bblearn Module 4).
6. Read Steenstra’s Water Resource Management and Indigenous Peoples (article posted in Bblearn Module 4).
7. Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHasSZv91fs to watch a short video about the Colorado River.
8. Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnzWDo3VFao to watch a short video about Minute 319.
9. Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6Bcqhsd1a4 to watch a short video about Minute 319.
10. Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aje3ti26gpk to watch a short video about an environmental pulse flow.
11. Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kt0Pty_uraA to watch a very short video about the Colorado River in San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico.
12. Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2OtsAKWZqc to watch a very short video about the Colorado River in San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico.
Answer the questions below in short paragraphs. You may number your answers to correspond to the questions. Make sure you include your list of works cited or references at the end of your submission. Some additional research and sources are needed to answer some of the questions.
Questions
1. Briefly explain prior appropriation water rights. Briefly explain Winters water rights. What is the conflict between prior appropriation and Winters water rights? Which rights take priority, prior appropriation or Winters?
2. Identify the ethical issues with water rights in the Southwest. Is it possible to be ethical and address everyone’s water rights? What economic, social, and environmental impacts would this have?
3. Has the Tule River Tribe successfully claimed their water rights? What are the impacts on this tribe? Would it be better to accommodate Native American water rights claims by giving them the rights and access to water or would it be better to compensate them monetarily (pay them for the historical and future use of their water) so that current water users can continue their activities? What would be an equitable and sustainable solution?
4. What is Minute 319? What are the economic, social, and environmental impacts of Minute 319?
5. Briefly summarize the policy options to manage the water rights conflicts of the Colorado River as covered in the videos and articles in this case study. In your opinion, what policy option is best? Briefly explain the strengths and weaknesses of your best policy option, including ethical, social, cultural, economic, and environmental impacts.
