Tribal Water Study: An Overview

Water and Tribes Initiative | October 28th, 2019

The purpose of this policy brief is to provide an overview of the Colorado River Basin Ten Tribes Partnership Tribal Water Study (Study), a unique review of the water rig

The purpose of this policy brief is to provide an overview of the Colorado River Basin Ten Tribes Partnership Tribal Water Study (Study), a unique review of the water rights, water uses, and future plans of the member tribes of the Colorado River Basin Tribes Partnership (Ten Tribes Partnership). The information in this policy brief is taken directly from the Study. In the foreword to the Study, Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) Commissioner Brenda Burman states that Reclamation and the Ten Tribes Partnership collaborated to document current water use and potential future water development to better facilitate planning and decision-making throughout the Colorado River Basin (Basin). The Study strengthens a Department of the Interior commitment to address water issues facing tribes and recognizes that the Colorado River is an essential foundation for the physical, economic, and cultural sustenance of tribes in the Basin. The Study also explores ways to provide a wide range of benefits to both Partnership Tribes and other water users. The mutual trust and understanding forged during the Study will prove to be critical as the Basin collaboratively addresses the significant challenges ahead. The Ten Tribes Partnership, in its foreword, stated that in addition to producing technical information, the Tribes had other goals. First, they wanted to better understand how, at present, the Study’s water use scenarios fit into the overall scheme of Colorado River Basin management. Second, they wanted to know how future development of tribal water resources will affect other water users who are now using water to which a tribe may hold legal title, but which the title-holding tribe has not yet developed for its own use. Finally, they wanted to assess--to the extent present information allows -- the role future development of tribal water rights will have on Basin operations. The Ten Tribes Partnership hopes the Study resolves some uncertainty about how tribes perceive the future for their water uses, and establishes a baseline of information for discussions and development of relationships among tribes, states, federal government, water managers, and water users throughout the Basin.

Tribal Water Summit Proceedings: California Indigenous Rights, Uses, and Management of Land and Water (2013)

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | March 26th, 2014

Two hundred representatives from California Native American Tribes, Federal and State agencies, and Native American organizations participated in the 2013 California Trib

Two hundred representatives from California Native American Tribes, Federal and State agencies, and Native American organizations participated in the 2013 California Tribal Water Summit. This event continued key concepts discussed at the 2009 Tribal Water Summit: »» Tribal Ecological Knowledge (TEK) – emphasizing greater respect for, and understanding of, Tribal knowledge and its value in resource management; »» Indigenous Rights to Water – focusing on the broader context and relationships between Tribes and water; and »»Watershed Management and Land Use – looking at the integration of TEK and indigenous water rights with local, regional and statewide watershed efforts and projects which affect Tribal communities, trust lands and homelands. Three plenary speakers were featured during the Summit. On the first day, Heather Whiteman Runs Him, Staff Attorney for the Native American Rights Fund, discussed Tribal water rights principles and approaches. On the second day, Felicia Marcus, Board Chair for the State Water Board, reflected on the importance of establishing and maintaining relationships between agencies and Tribes. Also on the second day, Cynthia Gomez, Tribal Advisor to the Governor, provided an overview on the work of the Tribal Advisor’s Office. On Day 1, opening remarks were offered by John Laird, Secretary for the California Natural Resources Agency, and Dale Hoffman-Floerke, Chief Deputy Director for the California Department of Water Resources (DWR).   Mr. Laird highlighted the efforts within the Resources Agency to better balance historic rights with multiple needs and interests. He shared the experiences from the MLPA Initiative, and described the adoption of the Tribal consultation policy and creation of the Tribal liaison positions. Ms. Hoffman-Floerke called attention to the TWS Guiding Principles and Statement of Goals for Implementation, which are supported by the Resources Agency and DWR. She described the 2013 TWS as succession planning, which supports the continuity of awareness, understanding and relationships from the 2009 TWS.

Tribal-Traditional Ecological Knowledge and the Use of Fire

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | September 9th, 2014

A memo written by Ron W. Goode, Tribal Chairman, North Fork Mono Tribe on Traditional Ecological Knowledge and the use of fire.  This document was part of the reference

A memo written by Ron W. Goode, Tribal Chairman, North Fork Mono Tribe on Traditional Ecological Knowledge and the use of fire.  This document was part of the reference documents included with the California Water Plan 2013 Update.

Tritium as an indicator of modern, mixed, and premodern groundwater age

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | September 4th, 2019

Categorical classification of groundwater age is often used for the assessment and understanding of groundwater resources. This report presents a tritium-based age classi

Categorical classification of groundwater age is often used for the assessment and understanding of groundwater resources. This report presents a tritium-based age classification system for the conterminous United States based on tritium (3H) thresholds that vary in space and time: modern (recharged in 1953 or later), if the measured value is larger than an upper threshold; premodern (recharged prior to 1953) if the measured value is smaller than a lower threshold; or mixed if the measured value is between the two thresholds. Inclusion of spatially varying thresholds, rather than a single threshold, accounts for the observed systematic variation in 3H deposition across the United States. Inclusion of time-varying thresholds, rather than a single threshold, accounts for the date of sampling given the radioactive decay of 3H. The efficacy of the tritium-based age classification system was evaluated at national and regional scales. The system was evaluated at a national scale by classifying samples from 1,788 public-supply wells distributed across 19 principal aquifers and comparing those results with expectations based on hydrogeologic principles. The regional-scale data are from five paired networks of shallow and deep wells (287 wells). As expected, modern groundwater is more prevalent in shallow wells than in deeper wells, in fractured-rock and carbonate aquifers as compared to clastic aquifers, in unconfined areas as compared to confined areas, and in humid climates as compared to arid climates. The results from a tritium-based age classification system compared favorably with the results of 14 previous studies of groundwater ages that used different age tracers and analytical methods. The wells and samples from the Cambrian-Ordovician aquifer that had been analyzed using a more complex multi-tracer analysis were also analyzed using the tritium-based age classification system, and there was a close match between the two methods. The results from these various studies suggest that the tritium-based age classification system may be informative as a screening tool prior to selecting more expensive and complex age-dating tracers and methods, or to provide an explanatory variable for other water-quality data where more complex methods or tracers are not available. This work improves on previous groundwater age classification using 3H by developing methods that (1) determine 3H thresholds for groundwater recharged in 1953 or later that minimize the misclassification of modern samples as mixed; (2) determine a pre-1953 threshold to estimate premodern background concentrations; and (3) add a mixed category to classify samples that are clearly neither entirely modern nor entirely premodern. As with any tritium-based approach, it can fail when the 3H record in precipitation does not accurately reflect the record of 3H in recharge

Truckee Basin Study Basin Study Report

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | August 8th, 2015

The Truckee River Basin (Basin) provides a compelling demonstration for how changes in demands and/or a region’s climate could influence both natural and human water us

The Truckee River Basin (Basin) provides a compelling demonstration for how changes in demands and/or a region’s climate could influence both natural and human water uses. Packed into this relatively small Basin is every form of water use and every type of water user that exists in the Western United States, including: tribal lands and trusts; irrigated agriculture; municipalities and industry; mining and geothermal energy exploration; Federal water projects; hydropower generation; lake, stream, and reservoir recreation; and restoration efforts for diminished wetlands and endangered aquatic species. Correspondingly, the diversity of water uses within its borders has made the Basin home to every type of water resources conflict. Despite this natural conflict, communities in the Basin have actively managed and adapted to water scarcity for as long as the arid region has been inhabited. Management activities include a number of massive water resource facilities, built through both Federal and local investment over the past century-and-a-half. In parallel with the construction of these facilities, regulations to govern their use have been promulgated in response to demands and to provide the flexibility to deal with highly variable weather patterns. Thus, like many basins in the West, water management practices, including diversion regulations, have been developed through a century of infrastructure improvements followed by decades of litigation. But unlike most basins, the closed hydrologic condition of the Basin creates a zero-sum game for water. The Truckee River has never had surplus water: each drop from its headwaters at Lake Tahoe to its terminus at Pyramid Lake serves important human uses and ecological functions. As a result, even small changes in future conditions (e.g., increases in demand or changes in climate) are perceptible and potentially contentious.

Truckee River Operating Agreement

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | September 6th, 2008

Click here for USBR home page for the agreement and related documents.

Click here for USBR home page for the agreement and related documents.

Tulare Lake Basin Hydrology and Hydrography: A Summary of the Movement of Water and Aquatic Species

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | April 12th, 2007

This report provides a summary of the historic and current hydrology of the Tulare Lake Basin (Basin) and describes past, present and potentiai future movement of water o

This report provides a summary of the historic and current hydrology of the Tulare Lake Basin (Basin) and describes past, present and potentiai future movement of water out of the Basin, and potential movement of bioiogical organisms and toxicants within and outside of the Basin. This study was initiated at the request of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA).

Tulare Lake Fact Sheet

California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) | October 12th, 2023

Tulare Lake Hydrologic Region Groundwater Update

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | April 1st, 2015

The primary goal of the Tulare Lake Hydrologic Region (Tulare Lake region) groundwater update is to expand information about region-specific groundwater conditions for Ca

The primary goal of the Tulare Lake Hydrologic Region (Tulare Lake region) groundwater update is to expand information about region-specific groundwater conditions for California Water Plan Update 2013, and to guide more informed groundwater management actions and policies. A second goal is to steadily improve the quality of groundwater information in future California Water Plan (CWP) updates to a level that will enable regional water management groups (RWMGs) to accurately evaluate their groundwater resources and implement management strategies that can meet local and regional water resource objectives within the context of broader statewide objectives. The final goal is to identify data gaps and groundwater management challenges meant to serve as guideposts for prioritizing future data collection and funding opportunities relevant to the region. This regional groundwater update is not intended to provide a comprehensive and detailed examination of local groundwater conditions, or be a substitute for local studies and analysis. However, where information is readily available, the update does report some aspects of the regional groundwater conditions in greater detail.

Tulare Lake Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Plan

Kings County Farm Bureau | January 29th, 2020