Havasupai lawsuit a first for the tribe
The lawsuit filed last week by the Havasupai Tribe seeking to halt groundwater withdrawals near the Grand Canyon’s South Rim is the first time the tribe has asserted its water rights, according to the tribe’s lawyer.
“Nobody has ever filed a lawsuit like this before,” Santa Fe-based attorney Richard Hughes said.
It was future plans for development, especially in the area around Tusayan, that spurred the tribe to take legal action, Tribal Chairman Don Watahomigie said.
“All we're saying is that you can go ahead with development if you can find other sources of water you're okay,” Watahomigie said in an interview last week. “We don't want any more drilling of water up on top on the plateau area where it’s going to deplete some of the springs and seeps we have down here.”
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