The Mid-Pacific Region's Native American Program addressed several complex issues relating to water use for endangered species. The Yurok Tribe and the Hoopa Valley Tribe have federally reserved fishing rights, and in order for this right to be exercised, sustainable fisheries must be assured.
The CALFED process to improve the Bay-Delta, will continue to provide challenges regarding consultation practices with California Indian Tribes. The CALFED process was developed to enhance the environment and operation of the Sacramento/San Joaquin River Delta and San Francisco Bay (Bay-Delta)—in which a fourth of California's water passes.
Mid-Pacific Regional and Area Office highlights in 2001:
- Mid-Pacific Regional Office
- Klamath Basin Area Office
- Lahontan Basin Area Office
- Northern California Area Office
No highlights from Central California Area Office or South Central California Area Office were reported.
CALFED Record of Decision, Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement/ Environmental Impact Report, and the Development of a Tribal Consultation Process
Reclamation is one of the few agencies that has future construction projects and studies identified to improve the Bay-Delta. Reclamation partners with 18 Federal and State agencies (CALFED) to share resources and expertise to develop a comprehensive program to resolve the many challenges facing the environmental improvement of the Bay-Delta. Although no Tribes are located in the Bay-Delta, identified construction projects or studies taking place elsewhere could have impacts on certain Tribes.
The signing of the Record of Decision (ROD) on August 28, 2000, implements the CALFED program cited in the environmental impact statement (EIS). However, the EIS does not make site-specific decisions. As site-specific projects are planned and their impacts become known, CALFED agencies must consult with recognized Tribes about those impacts. The ROD also includes a commitment to consult with Tribes and an offer to enter into Memorandums of Understanding with Tribal governments that will specify the process for how CALFED agencies and Tribes will work together in developing CALFED projects.
CALFED agencies and several Tribal representatives have been working together on ways to involve Tribes in CALFED since 1999. In particular, these agencies have held meetings with Tribes on off-stream storage projects north of the Delta.
process.
The Klamath Project Long-Term Operating Plan Environmental Impact Statement
The Klamath Basin Area Office has been working on the Long-Term Operating Plan EIS for the Klamath Project since 1997. The EIS process began with Reclamation's notice of intent to prepare a draft EIS published in the Federal Register. The notice was published on November 17, 1997. A supplemental notice of intent was published on February 11, 1999. The Klamath Project Long-Term Operating Plan EIS will take into account Indian fishing rights, contract water deliveries to non-Indian irrigators, and potential impacts to national wildlife refuges and federally listed threatened and endangered species.
The purpose of the Klamath Project Long-Term Operating Plan is to articulate several alternative operational scenarios developed to define project operations in relation to Reclamation's legal responsibilities and obligations within the Klamath River Basin, including the Tribal trust resources, Endangered Species Act (ESA), senior water rights, project water users' contractual rights, wildlife refuges, and other requirements mandated by law and within the authority of the Secretary of the Interior.In developing the Klamath Project Long-Term Operating Plan EIS, Reclamation is working with the Klamath Tribes, Yurok Tribe, and Hoopa Valley Tribe. These four Tribes are participating as cooperating agencies in the EIS process. Government-to-governemnt meetings occur with the Tribes to discuss EIS issues. Draft biological assessments have been provided to the Tribes for their review. In return, these Tribes have provided the Klamath Basin Area Office with valuable feedback on these documents. In FY2001, approximately $89,000 was provided to the Tribes from the Klamath Basin Area Office budget to assist in the effort to develop the EIS.
To aid in the interim, an Annual Operation Plan was developed for the Klamath Project for 2001. The plan specified Upper Klamath Lake elevations and Klamath River flows. Minimum lake levels and river flows under this plan are consistent with requirements of the ESA and Reclamation's obligations to protect Tribal trust resources. The intent of the Long-Term Klamath Operating Plan is to provide a framework to guide future annual operating plans.
The Record of Decisions is anticipated to be issued in January 2003.
Klamath Tribes' Water Right Negotiations
Reclamation is continuing negotiations between the Klamath Tribe, State of Oregon, and non-Indian irrigators concerning the resolution of Klamath Tribes' water rights.
P.L. 106-498 is the Klamath Basin Water Supply Enhancement Act (Act) of 2001 and was signed into law on November 9, 2001. The Act provides broad authorization for Reclamation "To conduct certain feasibility studies to augment water supplies for the Klamath Project and for other purposes."
As a result, the Klamath Basin Area Office is initiating feasibility studies for:
- Increasing the storage capacity, and/or the yield of the Klamath Project facilities while improving water quality, consistent with protecting fish and wildlife.
- Determining the potential for developing additional Klamath Basin groundwater supplies to improve water quantity and quality, including the effect of such groundwater development on nonproject lands, groundwater, and surface water supplies, and fish and wildlife.
- Determining the potential for further innovations in the use of existing water resources, or market-based approaches, in order to meet growing water needs consistent with State water law.
During September 2001, the Lahontan Basin Area Office activiely participated in a panel discussion about the technical resources available to Nevada Tribes to advance Tribal environmental and agricultural goals. This panel discussion was held at the first annual Nevada Indian Agricultural/Environmental Summit, sponsored by the University of Nevada.
Northern California Area Office
Trinity River Restoration
Developing a Trinity River fishery restoration proposal for naturally producing fish is mandated by a 1981 Secretarial Decision and Federal law including the 1955 Act authorizing construction and operation of the Trinity Division, the 1984 Trinity River Restoration Act (mandating restoration to pre-dam levels), and the 1992 Central Valley Project Improvement Act, Section 3406(b)(23) (mandating completion of the Trinity River Flow Evaluation Study and implementation of permanent flows in the Trinity River with the concurrence of the Hoopa Valley Tribe). Reclamation funding in FY01 for efforts to restore the Trinity River was approximately $7 million, of which about $2 million benefitted Tribes.
Trinity River Management Council
To implement the December 19, 2001, Trinity River Record of Decision needed to restore the fisheries to pre-dam levels (and thereby reversing the adverse effects from the Trinity River Division on Tribal fisheries and non-Indian interests), Reclamation works with the Trinity River Management Council, which includes the Yurok Tribe and Hoopa Valley Tribe and non-Indian stakeholders. The task force develops, assists, and approves projects that Reclamation funds.
In FY01, Reclamation funded Tribal activities in the following areas:
- Hatchery evaluation
- Fisheries monitoring
- Water quality monitoring
- Biological data collection
- GIS platforms
- Redd surveys
- Wire tagging
- Gauge station monitoring
- Channel rehabilitation monitoring
- Sediment transport monitoring
The ROD calls for implementing the preferred alternative, which provides for:
- Increasing Trinity River water flows throughout the original river course from 30 percent to 48 percent
- Mechanical channel rehabilitation of 47 sites
- Coarse and fine sediment management and gravel placement
- Bridge replacement
- Watershed restoration
- Adaptive management
Summary of Mid Pacific's Region Native American Program Highlights in Fiscal Year 2001
about the Native American Affairs Office