The Water and Tribes Initiative: A Conversation with Anne Castle

Stanford's Water in the West Program is hosting a conversation with Anne Castle, Former Assistant Secretary for Water and Science, U.S. Department of the Interior.

Join us for a conversation with Western water law and policy expert Anne Castle, who will describe an ambitious initiative to address the lack of access to clean and safe drinking water on Native American reservations. This longstanding public health issue has been correlated with the disproportionate incidence of COVID in tribal communities in recent reports in addition to chronic health concerns. Castle, who studies natural resource issues at the University of Colorado, has served as Assistant Secretary for Water and Science with the U.S. Department of the Interior and was the inaugural Landreth Visiting Fellow of the Water in the West Program.  She will describe the Colorado River Water and Tribes initiative whose mission is to both 1) educate the public about the lack of this basic service that most Americans take for granted and 2) make real, tangible progress on the ground. This talk will provide background on the effort to achieve universal clean water access for Native Americans and the current state of play, highlighting new opportunities to solve this problem by aligning with the Biden Administration's commitment to racial equity and ensuring clean drinking water for all Americans.

Speakers:

Anne Castle, Senior Fellow, Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, University of Colorado, and Founding Member, Water Policy Group

Barton "Buzz" Thompson, Robert E. Paradise Professor of Natural Resources Law, Stanford Law School, and Senior Fellow, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment