Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the Navajo Nation’s request for federal assistance in assessing the tribe’s water needs and potentially whether those needs should be met with Colorado River water, rather than reservation groundwater that is often salty and polluted. The 5-4 decision resonated Monday night in Steamboat Springs, when guest speakers with Seminars at Steamboat dipped their toes into the Colorado River Basin, and viewed the region’s complicated history, hydrology, and politics through the eyes of the water-poor Navajo Nation.