A drone view of Lake Oroville under the Enterprise Bridge on July 26, 2021.
Image credit: Kelly M. Grow/California Department of Water Resources

November 28, 2021 - WASHINGTON - The Bureau of Reclamation has announced that 31 tribes in 12 states will receive $9.9 million through the Native American Affairs Technical Assistance to Tribes Program.

“Water 2021 was one of the most hydrologically challenging years to date. As the year unfolded, Reclamation recognized the need to reprogram $100 million dollars to directly deal with the drought and to build resiliency into the future. This funding is a part of that reprogramming and will help facilitate partnerships with Tribes and Tribal organizations as they address severe and continued drought conditions affecting their critical water resources," said Bureau of Reclamation Deputy Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton. "Reclamation is committed to partnering with Indian Tribes and Tribal nations on these important water resources issues."

Reclamation's Native American Affairs Technical Assistance Program provides technical assistance to Indian Tribes to develop, manage, and protect their water and related resources. The program has supported a broad range of activities in each year since its inception in the early 1990s. 

Given the historic drought conditions this year, the Department of the Interior made several investments to help mitigate effects of the west-wide drought on the ground, including reprograming significant funding into drought-related programs and projects. This included a significant increase in funding for the Native American Affairs Technical Assistance Program to help Tribal communities throughout the West by increasing water supply sustainability and drought resiliency.

“This funding is part of Interior’s continued commitment to partner with and uphold our trust responsibilities to Tribal nations," said Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Tanya Trujillo. “It also comes amid record federal investments in Tribal communities, particularly from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which will make transformational investments in Indian Country, provide further funding to reach more communities and develop longer-term measures to respond to drought and climate change, and replace aging infrastructure.”

The funding will be provided to Tribes as grants or cooperative agreements. The projects selected are:

·        Big Valley Treatment Plant Improvements, $350,000 (California)

·        Chemehuevi Wastewater Extension, $400,000 (California)

·        Cherokee Mankiller-Soap Water Study, $400,000 (Oklahoma)

·        Choctaw Arbuckle-Simpson Aquifer Study, $199,844 (Oklahoma)

·        Choctaw Blue River Water Supply Analysis, $56,020 (Oklahoma)

·        Cow Creek Water Resource Assessment, $399,748 (Oregon)

·        Fallon Paiute-Liner Appraisal Study, $379,000 (Nevada)

·        Fort Belknap Spring & Well Improvements, $300,000 (Montana)

·        Havasupai Bar Four Treatment System Improvements, $406,000 (Arizona)

·        Hopi Power Extension, $368,733 (Arizona)

·        Isleta Pueblo Mound Rio Erosion Control, $150,000 (New Mexico)

·        Jemez Pueblo Pecos Diversion Dam Improvements, $250,000 (New Mexico)

·        Klamath Stock Watering Wells, $375,000 (Oregon)

·        Lower Brule Sioux Water Meters Installation, $398,265 (South Dakota)

·        Navajo Nation Many Farms Feeder Improvements, $300,000 (Arizona/Utah)

·        Nez Perce Bedrock Creek Restoration, $95,613 (Idaho)

·        Nez Perce Little Salmon R. Restoration, $87,589 (Idaho)

·        Nez Perce LOP Exchange Well Design, $140,000 (Idaho)

·        NW Shoshone OGOI Laterals, $142,340 (Utah)

·        NW Shoshone OGOI Pipe Improvements, $135,945 (Utah)

·        NW Shoshone SCADA System, $40,000 (Utah)

·        Oglala Sioux Kyle Pumphouse Electrical Improvements, $162,508 (South Dakota)

·        Oglala Sioux No.9 Pumphouse Improvements, $15,109 (South Dakota)

·        Oglala Sioux Brotherhood Booster Pump Improvements, $33,005 (South Dakota)

·        Oglala Sioux Slim Buttes Booster RTU Upgrades, $62,884 (South Dakota)

·        Quechan Indian Flow Measurement Improvements, $100,995 (Arizona)

·        San Filipe Pueblo Phase II, $399,998 (New Mexico)

·        Santa Clara Pueblo Phase II-Main Ditch Liner, $400,000 (New Mexico)

·        Shoalwater Bay Water System Improvements, $175,000 (Washington)

·        Shoshone-Bannock Tribes Drought Plan Update, $249,300 (Idaho)

·        Shoshone-Bannock Tribes Tank Rehabilitation, $250,000 (Idaho)

·        Skokomish Meter Replacement, $225,055 (Washington)

·        Standing Rock Sioux WTP Control Extension, $370,015 (North/South Dakota)

·        Table Mountain Treatment Plant Solar, $408,400 (California)

·        Taos Nose Pipeline Phase II Improvements, $400,000 (New Mexico)

·        Tule River Water Transmission Improvements, $397,560 (California)

·        Twenty-Nine Palms Contingency Plan, $220,000 (California)

·        Umatilla Drought Planning, $372,008 (Oregon)

·        Ute Tribe Water Monitoring Improvements, $10,000 (Utah)

·        Zuni Supply Options Assessment, $266,000 (New Mexico)

The Native American and International Affairs Office in the Commissioner's Office serves as the central coordination point for the Native American Affairs Program and lead for policy guidance for Native American issues in Reclamation. To learn more, please visit www.usbr.gov/native.
Source: USBR