In far western Arizona, the dusty beige expanse of desert stretches as far as the eye can see. Under the baking summer sun, which regularly pushes temperatures above 110 degrees in the summer, even scrubby desert bushes can struggle to survive.

But in the middle of that desert, the Colorado River creates a striking strip of green.

The river winds through the valleys and deserts of the Southwest, carrying Rocky Mountain snowmelt hundreds of miles away, giving life to places like Parker, Arizona. It's home to the Colorado River Indian Tribes – one of 30 federally recognized tribes in the Colorado River Basin, but one of the few whose land includes a stretch of the river itself.

"It's our lifeblood," said Dillon Esquerra, a member of the tribe who serves as its water resources director

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