Arizona
Colorado River wins personhood status from Arizona tribal council
Tribe seeks to conserve the Colorado River and secure water rights
The Colorado River Indian Tribes aim to conserve the Colorado River flowing through their land, yet they still lack certain water rights.
Joel Angel Juarez, Arizona Republic
The Colorado River Indian Tribes have formally accorded personhood status to the Colorado River, creating a powerful new mechanism to protect the eponymous river that makes life possible in their arid homelands.
The resolution was approved by the CRIT Tribal Council on Nov. 6 in Parker.
The nearly 4,300-member tribe has long been alarmed at the state of its life-giving waterway, CRIT Chairwoman Amelia Flores wrote in a statement shared with The Arizona Republic.
“The Colorado River is in jeopardy,” she said. The tribe, which holds the largest quantity of senior water rights in the state, regards the river as a living being, so the resolution codifies that belief and the tribe’s commitment to protecting its needs and ability to provide water for future generations.
CRIT’s leadership conducted a rigorous process, including consultations with its membership, to formulate the resolution.
Personhood status opens a door to legal actions
During the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting, Earth Elder Coordinator Mindahi Crescencio Bastida Munoz said the state of the natural world is in “such a systemic crisis that we need to rethink our position in the world as human beings.” Munoz also questioned why corporations have more rights than rivers, mountains or oceans.
Granting personhood to natural resources, such as rivers, allows people or parties to take legal action to protect them. For example, forum participants said a person could sue a company or entity that pollutes a river because the river has the right to be pollution-free.
CRIT is now authorized to include the river’s needs in transactions involving its water, Flores said in her statement, supporting the river’s long-term health, restoring habitats, designating flows for the river delta or building new wetlands.
The Colorado is now the third river with such legal protections in North America. The Yurok Tribe was the first to grant personhood to the Klamath River in 2019, which “establishes the Rights of the Klamath River to exist, flourish, and naturally evolve; to have a clean and healthy environment free from pollutants; to have a stable climate free from human-caused climate change impacts; and to be free from contamination by genetically engineered organisms.”
The Magpie River in Quebec was granted “legal personality” in 2021 by a joint resolution of the Conseil des Innu de Ekuanitshit, a Canadian First Nation and the Minganie Regional County Municipality, the local county government.
Other rivers, most notably the Whanganui River in New Zealand, have received personhood protections, which are enabling local Indigenous communities to begin the long process of restoring natural flows and habitats. Representatives from CRIT and other Southwestern tribes have met with Maori peoples to share ideas and concepts on how best to protect water and waterways.
“The river is a part of who we are and who we will always be,” Flores said. “The Colorado River Indian Tribes.”
Debra Krol reports on Indigenous communities at the confluence of climate, culture and commerce in Arizona and the Intermountain West. Reach Krol at debra.krol@azcentral.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @debkrol and on Bluesky at @debkrol.bsky.social.
Coverage of tribal water issues in the Colorado River Basin is supported by the Water Desk.
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Arizona didn’t have the best start, but a long second half drained the life from Arizona State and sent the Wildcats back home to Tucson with a 23-7 victory, and the Territorial Cup in hand.
Brent Brennan’s first win in the rivalry series punctuates a dramatic turnaround for the program. After a 4-8 finish last season, Brennan’s aggressiveness in the portal, while retaining his roster, and making significant changes to the coaching staff, led to a 9-3 finish this time around.
The Wildcats have been great defensively all season long, and it showed up again on Friday night. The Wildcats forced five turnovers from ASU’s Jeff Sims, nabbing three interceptions and scooping up two fumbles.
According to Pro Football Focus, the Wildcats dominated the game defensively, despite only playing 20 minutes of the game. Here are the five highest-graded defenders from Arizona’s win (minimum 30 snaps).
Kennedy had a relatively quiet night in the box score, but was still effective on the edge. He made two tackles and had one pressure against the Sun Devils.
The edge rusher did a great job of keeping contain against Sims, not letting him scramble or beat the Wildcats with his legs. He did the same thing in the run game. With the exception of a few plays, ASU could only run the ball between the tackles, and the edges were a big reason why.
According to PFF, Kennedy had an overall grade of 68.3, with a tackling grade of 75.8, a run defense grade of 66.5 and a pass rush grade of 62.7.
Dansby had a big day locking down the perimeter with fellow corner Jay’Vion Cole limited to just eight snaps. The senior corner had two tackles, one pass breakup and an interception.
ASU’s first turnover of the day came as Sims was flushed from the pocket and made an errant throw toward the sideline, where Dansby dove and came up with the takeaway. He allowed just one short catch on five targets, but he also had a pass interference penalty.
Break out the turnover sword. 🗡️@dansby_michael with the INT. pic.twitter.com/pzFghLex4c
— Arizona Football (@ArizonaFBall) November 29, 2025
According to PFF, Dansby had an overall grade of 68.9, with a coverage grade of 71.4, a tackling grade of 76.6 and a run defense grade of 56.1.
Wilson had a great day opposite Kennedy on the edge. He made six tackles and batted down two passes at the line of scrimmage in the win for Arizona.
Like Kennedy, Wilson did a great job of keeping ASU contained to the pocket or running between the tackles in traffic. He also had two hits on Sims as a pass rusher, making his presence felt.
According to PFF, Wilson had an overall grade of 69.0, with a tackling grade of 78.3, a run defense grade of 75.2 and a pass rush grade of 57.1.
Arizona’s safeties once again were flying around the field and always near the ball. Smith was huge against the run, making six tackles and deflecting one pass.
While tackling has been a problem for Smith this season, he was perfect against the Sun Devils. He played close to stop the run and also picked up one pressure. Smith didn’t allow any catches as the primary defender and made some key tackles downfield to prevent ASU from scoring.
According to PFF, Smith had an overall grade of 71.7, with a tackling grade of 82.9, a run defense grade of 74.6 and a coverage grade of 68.7.
Who else? Johnson was once again all over the field making plays. He made three tackles, two pass breakups, one interception and forced a fumble in the fourth quarter.
Johnson punched the ball away from Sims on a run with ASU driving into scoring range, and Arizona recovered and went on the score the final touchdown to seal the game. On the ensuing possession, Sims overshot his man and Johnson laid out to snatch the pick, the fifth and final takeaway of the day for the Wildcats.
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🌵 that’s four, fam. pic.twitter.com/VCwlvoY8yY— Arizona Football (@ArizonaFBall) November 29, 2025
According to PFF, Johnson had an overall grade of 83.3, by far his highest grade of the season. He also had a run defense grade of 92.7, a coverage grade of 71.3 and a tackling grade of 56.2.
What did you think of Arizona’s statement win over Arizona State? To let us know, follow us on our X account by clicking on the link.
Arizona has brought the Territorial Cup back to Tucson, winning the rivalry game with ASU for the third time in four seasons. And it did so despite some of the worst grades of the season for the team as a whole and the offense specifically.
The UA’s team grade of 69.1 ranked third-lowest in 2025, ironically ahead of two of the other wins in the current 5-game streak. The offensive grade of 62.6 was also better than only the recent wins over Kansas (57.2) and Colorado (55.5).
Defensively it was a different story. Arizona graded at 76.1, which was 6th-best, and its 90.3 run defense grade was the best of 2025.
For the season, Arizona’s overall grade of 87.5 ranks 39th in FBS. The defense is tied for 21st at 91.5. Compare those to a season ago when the Wildcats ranked 98th nationally and their defense was 118th out of 134 FBS schools.
Below are the snap counts and individual grades of all players who appeared on offense or defense at ASU:
Top overall grades (min. 20 snaps): S Dalton Johnson (83.3), S Genesis Smith (71.7), QB Noah Fifita (71.2), RT Matthew Lado (71.2), LB Riley Wilson (69.0)
Top pass blocking: RG Alexander Doost (85.5), LG Chubba Maae (81.6), RB Ismail Mahdi (76.2)
Top run blocking: RT Matthew Lado (66.2), WR Kris Hutson (62.7), WR Tre Spivey (61.9)
Top pass rushing: LB Chase Kennedy (62.7), CB Treydan Stukes (60.0), CB Michael Dansby (59.7)
Top run defense: Johnson (92.7), CB Ayden Garnes (77.0), Wilson (75.2)
Top tackling: Smith (82.9), Garnes (81.1), LB Taye Brown (79.1)
Top coverage: Dansby (71.4), Johnson (71.3), Smith (68.7)
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