AbstractWater security is a global concern sharpened by the biggest humanity challenge of climatic crisis. With the end of designing and implementing efficient and sustainable water management strategies, it is necessary to recognize the interdependence and coevolution between natural and social systems and understand how the double way relationships between these systems shape sustainability. The socio‐ecological systems (SES) sustainability approach is an alternative to this end. Conceptual challenges have been identified in the analysis of the sustainability of SES.

Water for cultural and religious purposes, referred to as ceremonial and subsistence (C&S) use, is a distinctive feature of many Indigenous and other communities. Whether this constitutes a legitimate claim for water for an American Indian Tribe in the United States was litigated in the context of a trial to determine the federal government’s obligation to reserve water for Indian Tribes whom it had settled on reservations during the 19th century. Following a U.S.