WASHINGTON – The Tule River Tribe in California and its neighbors made their case for water rights before a subcommittee on water and power in the House of Representatives Sept. 25.
In plainer language, local water interests stated their case straight to Congress, without the mediation of attorneys and lawsuits. With an agreement in principle firmly in place and a final water-sharing agreement sure to be signed within 30 days, according to Philip Gregg Larson of South Tule Independent Ditch Co., the negotiations over Tule River water are on the verge of something rare in Indian country – a multi-party water-sharing agreement that hasn’t involved litigation.
Alec Garfield, director of the tribal water resources department, was the Tule River tribal chairman in 1971, ”when the tribal council was in its second year of implementing full-time staff.” One of the issues brought before the council was a 1922 water-use agreement, sanctioned by the Department of the Interior, that didn’t include the tribe in negotiating its own water rights. ”The tribe was not at the table. So therefore, in ’71, when the tribe heard some of the contents of the agreement, they wanted to do something with it.”
A field hearing attended by Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and state politicians Jan. 1, 1972, marked the start of a water negotiation process that has been free of the usual conflict between tribes and borderlands, Garfield said. ”The situation is very unique in that the tribal council’s policy has always been, you know ever since I’ve been involved in it, that we don’t want any litigation. We want to deal with our neighbors on a friendly basis because we all have to live here together.”
Larson explained that all parties agree on the best water-use solution for the tribe: a storage-and-distribution system that will capture high-flow runoff from the mountains and store it for year-round use, while permitting the river to flow through freely to downstream users during the low-flow season. Reps. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., and Jim Costa, D-Calif., have introduced H.R. 2535 in the House, a bill that would authorize Interior to fund a feasibility study for a reservation-based storage reservoir, outlet system and water delivery infrastructure. ”Once enacted and signed into law,” Garfield stated in written testimony, ”H.R. 2535 will enable the tribe and its neighbors to complete the necessary technical background to bring the final settlement agreement to life.” The final settlement too will likely come before Congress for consideration, Garfield said.
The tribe needs every drop of the water it is entitled to because of its need for housing and economic development, Garfield said. ”During the summer months, the tribe runs out of water. We’re probably at the end of the trail as far as water wells are concerned. I think we have maybe a half-dozen wells in areas of the reservation that is probably the end of that. They’re still working, but some of them don’t put out that many gallons per minute, and our community is expanding.”
The tribe’s wells do not provide enough water for fire protection in the dry summers, Garfield said, concurring with Native American Rights Fund special counsel Steven Moore. ”We’re the only reservation in the United States with giant sequoias,” Garfield said, another urgent reason for an adequate water supply at Tule River.
