As the Colorado River Basin faces ongoing drought, increasing climate pressures, and the approaching 2026 negotiations that will determine the future of river management, decisions made today will shape water security across the American West for decades to come. Ongoing drought and escalating climate pressures are intensifying water scarcity throughout the Colorado River Basin. As negotiations over the future management of the Colorado River approach in 2026, Alice Le Bihan (MEM ’27) will evaluate factors influencing the resilience and vulnerability of Tribal water rights across Tribal Nations in the Basin, including legal, hydrological, institutional, and governance considerations. Alice will contribute to the development of comparative tools and analyses that support a deeper understanding of Tribal water governance in the Basin. She will gain experience at the intersection of water law, Indigenous governance, and environmental policy while working on one of the most significant water management challenges in the American West. In collaboration with Fluent Freshwater Insights, Alice will advance actionable and equitable approaches to water management that benefit both ecosystems and communities. By highlighting the role of Tribal Nations as sovereign governments and stewards of water resources, this project contributes to long-term conservation and environmental resilience.
Project Deliverable
Coming soon!
STUDENT RESEARCHER
Alice Le Bihan – Western Resource Fellow | Alice Le Bihan is an environmental law and policy scholar who calls the Canadian West Coast and its 17,000 miles of coastline home. She holds a BA in Political Science and French from the University of British Columbia, and a JD with a concentration in Environmental Law and Sustainability from the University of Victoria. Before Yale, she supported Indigenous watershed governance through land- and community-based research, public interest environmental law work, and contributions to a landmark Indigenous land and fishing rights case. At the Yale School of the Environment, she is expanding her interdisciplinary expertise in watershed science and restoration, with the goal of advancing resilient water governance through legal, bilateral, and international collaboration. See what Alice has been up to. |Blog
