Tribal Water Rights

Session 3C | Thursday | 9:15 – 10:30 AM (PT)

Washington state is experiencing increasing conflict between competing water demands, and there have been water adjudication settlements that work to resolve water source conflicts and competition. Future planning efforts will need to consider watershed-wide water rights which include federal, tribal, and instream flow rights. Dr. Dascher is an environmental geographer with expertise in using geospatial tools and large datasets to analyze multiple aspects of watershed connectivity. Dascher works with local non-profits including the Sierra Club Upper Columbia River Group, Spokane River Team, and the Spokane Riverkeeper on issues related to water quality. She will be discussing the ongoing work around the drafting of the TMDL for PCBs in the Spokane River and how this process exemplifies ongoing and related water management issues in Washington state and the importance of stakeholder engagement. EWU Urban Planning Professor and attorney Margo Hill will discuss Tribal Water Rights, and the recent U.S. Supreme Court case Arizona v. Navajo Nation.

Eastern Washington University

EWU Associate Professor Margo Hill, JD, MURP, is a Spokane Tribal citizen and grew up on the Spokane Indian reservation. She serves as the Associate Director of Small, Urban, Rural and Tribal Center on Mobility (SURTCOM) and Co-PI for Northwest Tribal Technical Assistance Program. Dr. Hill served as the Spokane Tribal Attorney for 10 years and as a Coeur d’Alene Tribal Court Judge. Professor Hill has represented the Tribe in Federal Court and was part of a team that applied for TAS under the CWA. Ms. Hill earned her Juris Doctorate from Gonzaga School of Law and her Master of Urban and Regional Planning from Eastern Washington University. Her Bachelor’s degree is in Political Science from the University of Washington. Margo Hill is faculty at Eastern Washington University where she teaches Environmental Impact Statements, Federal Indian Law, Planning Law and Legislation, Tribal Governance, Administrative Law, Community Development, American Indian Health and Community, and other Tribal Planning classes.

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