As a young girl growing up on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation, Lorelei Cloud learned the value of water in life lessons every week outside her uncle’s home.
“I lived with my grandparents in an old adobe home they had remodeled. We didn't have any running water and so we always hauled water to our house,” says Cloud, Vice Chairman of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe in southwest Colorado.
“Every Sunday, my uncle would come and pick up my sister and me. We would fill up our water jugs from the garden hose outside his house and take it back to our house. That was our water for the week.”
On the occasions when her family’s supply didn’t last, Cloud’s grandmother would collect water from a nearby ditch and boil it for safe use – tiding them over until the next trip to her uncle’s.
Those early memories – of water scarcity, not abundance – have helped shape Cloud’s work today as a state leader in water conservation, and as a champion for Tribal voices in water decision-making in Colorado.
Native American Tribes hold some of the most senior water rights in the Colorado River Basin and have thousands of years of knowledge about water management.
But they have been historically excluded from decisions around allocations and management of the river and water resources. And on many Reservations, including the Southern Ute, access to clean, safe drinking water is still far from universal.
“When we pray, we always pray about water,” Cloud says of her Tribe’s traditions. “We pray it’s always going to be there to take care of our people.”
For Cloud, action follows prayer. In 2023, she was named to the Colorado Water Conservation Board, becoming its first Indigenous member. She also chairs the Indigenous Women’s Leadership Network, which aims to create a bigger platform for Indigenous women working on water and natural resource issues.
And she has served as chair of the Ten Tribes Partnership, a coalition of Tribes in the Upper and Lower Colorado River Basin seeking a greater voice for Indigenous communities in management of the river.
“Traditionally, as a people, we value water. We know that water is sacred. We also know that water is alive. It has a spirit just like all living things have a spirit,” Cloud says.
“We've never taken more than what we could use. What we couldn't use, we always gave back. That belief in respecting nature is always at the center of my thought process and my decision-making.”
Bringing more voices to the table when making water management decisions leads to better solutions, Cloud says. That’s critically important in the Colorado River Basin, which provides water to 40 million people in seven states, even as climate change and drought are ushering in an uncertain water future.
“Being that first Indigenous person on the water conservation board, it really helped open my eyes on how other people make the decisions about water use within the state of Colorado,” Cloud says.
“I have a greater understanding and respect for all of the water users in Colorado because they are very conscious about how water is being used and how water is being allocated.”
In turn, Cloud says she hopes non-Tribal water users in Colorado are gaining a better understanding of the unique water challenges facing Indigenous people.
The Southern Ute Indian Tribe has its own water treatment facility. But dozens of families in more remote areas lack universal access to clean water. Water hauling services can cost hundreds of dollars.
“Tribal residents have to make the decisions if they can flush their toilets, if they have the water to wash their dishes, if they can take showers, on a daily basis,” she says. “Other people in the basin don't have to make those decisions. They don't consciously think about paying for the water before they use it.”
Cloud understands the significance of her status as the first Indigenous member of Colorado’s water board. Every meeting, every conversation she joins helps normalize Tribal involvement in water decision making.
“Bridging those gaps, highlighting inequities that exist – it’s all part of changing how the world views Tribes and Tribal water rights,” she says. “Having Tribes in all of those conversations is really, really important. We are the senior water right holders. We are the first inhabitants of this continent. We are the first conservationists.”
She believes Indigenous women bring a particularly unique, important – and overlooked – perspective to discussions in the future of water in the Colorado River Basin.
“Indigenous women are naturally in leadership roles in conservation, because we tap into the generational knowledge and intuition and experience that can help solve complex environmental challenges,” she says.
“Women have always been the caretakers. When they go out and gather water for their home, they need to know how much water is available. They need to know the quality of the water that’s available. So they understand the connection between water demand and water supply.”
Cloud cites her grandmother – Sunshine Cloud Smith – as the most influential and inspiring person in her own life. Cloud calls her grandmother “a rebel for her time” who lied about her age to leave the reservation to go to school at 16. She also joined the Army and later became a member of the Southern Ute Tribal Council and led Head Start programs to benefit Tribal children.
Cloud remembers her grandmother taking her to a bridge crossing the Pine River, on the Reservation, for water ceremonies.
“My grandmother was the glue in my family,” she says. “She would pray and make offerings to the spirit so that we would have rain for the season and have water. Since then, the Pine River has always been a place where I can go and pray and leave offerings for the spirits.”
Today, Cloud sees it as her “personal duty” to help elevate Indigenous women to leadership roles on water issues.
“I'm not a gatekeeper in my knowledge. I always want to share my knowledge with other women.”
