 We return thanks to our mother the earth who sustains us to the rivers and streams that run upon the bosom of the earth To the descending rains that give us water and cause all plants to grow Water is part of us water is our culture. We we pray with water waters there with them without water Nothing exists Everything around us seems to be putting the wrong things into the river and we start thinking right then you know water quality I mean they can be long is going to affect in our wells too people has moved in in the past and Poisoned our bays and left us, but we're not going to allow that to happen anymore Water is life pa mape to Qua by any name water represents a life force to American Indians Rivers lakes streams wetlands and oceans are part of our landscape Water nourishes our tribes our herds and our crops and water is part of our tribal legends and rituals Songs that we make up are always talking about water water coming from the sky water coming from the clouds And we pray for rain our people really held the waters and natural resources sacred We pray to have moisture. We pray to the rivers. We pray to the water holes We pray for rain because it's a human being. That's what nourishes our body is water From the Seminoles of Florida to the Sioux of the upper plains to the clinkett of Alaska Countless generations of American Indians have lived with the land and respected Mother Earth and her abundant resources No laws or regulations were needed to maintain this delicate balance the rains and and The plushing and and everything nature took care of water standards If you're talking about turn of the century of people started to gather here all of a sudden we have a people problem Our lands were then affected by the industrialization of the country Pollution flowed in our rivers lakes and streams as a result a relationship with water changed We have our elders telling us of a time when they could drink water from the river and Nobody would dream of doing that today. I mean Acoma used to rely on their drinking water coming our systems up at Acoma But now we have Acid rain who wants to drink acid? Water remains a vital part of our lives and our culture But the quality of our water today cannot be taken for granted. We must take action to protect it The tribes are the stewards of the land and and they have a different Cultural value of what we're talking about without the water and without the river and without what it brings to us spiritually Economically just what it takes to make us whole and make us who we are That's how important it is things are different Things are not what I saw when I was growing up as a young person things are not just What grandfather taught me? In the 1960s people across the country became more aware of water pollution Fish kills were common sewage flowed in rivers and in 1969 Ohio's Cuyahoga River became so polluted with toxic waste It burst into flames the public demanded action and the US Congress responded by enacting the Clean Water Act in 1972 to improve the nation's water quality The Clean Water Act is implemented by the US Environmental Protection Agency EPA But initially little was done to protect the water quality in Indian country Then in 1987 Congress amended the Clean Water Act these amendments authorized EPA to provide funding for eligible tribes and To treat eligible tribes as states for the purpose of establishing their water quality standards While EPA and tribes working together have made a lot of progress Most tribal waters still are not protected by basic standards under the Clean Water Act It's very important that we protect our sovereignty in relation to the water issue If we don't someone else is going to take care of it and we'll lose jurisdiction over that and not have the control over it So what are water quality standards? Water quality standards are the foundation and a tool for improving and protecting our surface waters Water quality standards consist of three parts one the use or uses of a water body For such things as fishing swimming boating or for cultural or traditional uses To water quality criteria, which are limits on pollutants and conditions that will protect the use of the water and Three an anti degradation policy that governs changes in water quality tribes develop water quality standards to Protect a range of uses Certainly surface waters for many tribes are a source of drinking water They may be a source of irrigation water for fields their economic livelihood if they're a fishing community They may have sweat lodges certain ceremonies that involve immersion in water for both the health of the ecosystem and the health of the tribal members Having water quality standards or something that is critical to them Some tribes have seen the advantages of developing their own water quality standards under the Clean Water Act and are now seen positive results for their efforts Here are the success stories of the Acoma and Chihales tribes I am the mother water clan of our tribes when there's a sickness of animals under Reservation of dehydration and stuff. They call the water clan people to bless the water so the animals could have some Refreshing water to drink, you know, you have the Huaca clan And you have that sits on those are the two important clans that have a lot to do with water special prayers and songs are made and sung before the water is given to an individual or to the fields or to the animals People started noticing the the discoloration the quality of the water Not only in the river, but also in our farming fields There was a drastic changes that took place some day it'll run out if we don't put a stop to it in here The Pueblo of Acoma's reservation stretches across almost 900 square miles of high desert in New Mexico For hundreds of years Acoma's hunted these lands and cultivated crops from the desert While tribal members live in and around three towns on the reservation The heart of the Pueblo is Old Acoma a town atop of 357 foot high sandstone Mesa Old Acoma called Sky City is one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in North America The traditional name for the Pueblo of Acoma is really Haco and Haco means basically in our language The place that always was a place that always prepared and a place that it's always going to be Over the years Acoma has become known throughout the world for its beautiful black and white pottery Today tourism tribal government gaming and ranching support the Pueblo's economy For generations Acoma's enjoyed a steady flow of clean clear water from the Rio San Jose and other area aquifers But in the 1970s tribal members in other area residents noticed pollutants and sludge accumulating on the Rio San Jose Our farmers as irrigators noticed that the water was harmful to them when they stepped in it and it was very visible You could smell the odor of those discharges in the river All these natural springs that we have at Acoma are some places are shut because of the contamination And these things that have gone through our Pueblo other pollutants that we have to deal with our livestock that often wander about near springs and our river and Pollute them we're having algae blooms huge algae blooms on the on the lake itself Which was depleted and really the oxygen for the for the fish that we had stocked there We had fish scales going on. It was a big Not only economic blow to the tribe, but also an agricultural blow because everybody east of the lake Who you who farm dependent on that particular source of water? In addition the nearby town of Grants had been discharging its wastewater into the river Under the Clean Water Act pollutants discharged from point sources require a national pollutant discharge elimination system or NPDES permit Grants had such a permit from EPA to discharge treated effluent into the river However, the city's wastewater treatment plant had numerous violations to its permit limits this is what happened with a Contamination that we got from the city of Grants and this is what we have to contend with on our river system is years and years of black muck and in some areas it's anywhere from a Foot to six feet deep and it's just pure You know just pure muck that's gonna take time as a result the Pueblo of Acoma eventually took legal action against grants in the 1980s this began the process of the tribe developing its own environmental programs We realized we would need to manage that resource on a day-to-day basis And to bring in more technical capability Here on the Pueblo the Pueblo of Acoma ultimately wanted to improve their domestic water supply Creative fishery have water for recreation and bring farming back to historic levels To do that the tribe received technical and financial assistance from the EPA and 1996 they began the process of developing their own water quality standards They are our funding source EPA was very open to to build in that relationship We have EPA come and do presentations to even our tribal government who's the tribal council and tribal administration and also Establish a good coherent type of relationship, which we deal with community people Which I think is important for other tribes to realize. I think a lot of times throughout the country Tribes have a very different view and a dim view when it comes to federal agencies and being able to work and develop hand-in-hand if we don't Come together the feds the state the tribes the local governments the people on the watersheds If we don't work together there won't be nothing there won't be no clean water There won't be no salmon there won't be no government-to-government relation there won't be no There won't be any any animals protection or or anything. It's it's just We have to work together. There's no other way We had a series of public hearings to begin the process of getting our standards approved through EPA The public and local governments gave the Pueblo of Acoma enthusiastic support The Pueblo of Acoma approached this process in a very smart efficient way and it went smoothly Open public forums gave everyone a chance to learn what the tribe was proposing and to give their input just a whole thought and idea of Breeding information to the attention of our people in various areas and Accommodate those concerns and be able to assist us and work together in a good partnership Make our our our government stronger make our tribe stronger make our state stronger and the people that work together Make them stronger that they they they they have these great opportunities to get something done The Pueblo of Acoma adopted its water quality standards in 1998. They were approved by EPA in 2001 So far the Pueblo of Acoma has faced a handful of compliance problems from dischargers and on each occasion was successful in upholding its standards When the EPA approves tribal or state water quality standards The approval does not include any enforcement authority But under your own laws and regulations Tribes and states may have the authority to take enforcement action We have phone calls that come in from non even our non-union neighbors To report things that are going on out there that might affect either water resources or our environment So I think that's that's really the key to management and the key to enforcement is having an open door policy The Pueblo of Acoma's water quality standards are working Not only can they be used to protect against future degradation of resources But they are helping to meet the original goal of improving the health of the Rio San Jose And now when we go out to the river we see how the river is coming back. So it's been very successful Acoma Pueblo has been a leader in protecting our water sources It's really important that our children carry on these responsibilities We still have a long ways to go and we still have a lot of educating to do But the progress that we're making is we've got a water office now I think it's really important that we begin to show the outside world that we have the management capabilities that we have The capability to go and monitor our own natural resources As a tribe we want to keep it healthy We want to be able to be able to have a clean river, you know, so the fish may be able to come back For centuries Chehalis people lived along the Chehalis River near the western coast of what is now Washington state The Chehalis tribe depended heavily on fish from the river In the 1860s the Chehalis were moved to a reservation between the Black and Chehalis rivers Today most Chehalis are employed either by the tribal government or in the gaming industry In the late 1980s the quality of the Black and Chehalis rivers began deteriorating In the low times of the river we could walk across the river but then in our I say maybe 20 years ago We would cross river and it was slippery the rocks were all coated and slippery and we said man There's something going on here when it makes a change that you haven't seen before You know a bank changes and there's no more trees there Or the river's never been this color this time of the year A lot of our problems have happened because next to the river There's a lot of logging going on construction and there's much slides in 1985 we had what they call a fish kill Biologists are hauling hundreds of salmon out of the Black and Chehalis rivers south of olympia many of them trophy-sized About a 35 40 pounder here More than 200 000 fish died from toxic pollutants released into the water when we saw fish scales It was kind of a wake-up call. We said we need to not only not let it deteriorate But somehow enhance the quality of the water how we're going to do it The confederated tribes at the Chehalis reservation first started an environmental program with a grant from the epa The tribe opened its water resource department and set up a water quality laboratory in 1992 The laboratory staff began testing the surface and groundwater on the reservation We test the water because that's uh where the fish live and many people on this reservation use fish as a Big part of their diet. So if the water is contaminated then possibly the fish may be contaminated And we want to find that out before it gets too bad. Okay temperature 8.53 Specific connectivity is point zero five And the depth is point seven We have money that comes from From uh, uh the environmental protection agency to our tribes And we go out and test the water to state don't we do it the tribes do it with our professional infrastructure We're able to go and ask ourselves what's going on rather than asking somebody else and not knowing if the answer that we're getting is Is one that we're being told to just pacify us or it's a an actual answer that we can rely on So having your own department and your own entity that you can ask and is certified and has the training and background as necessary makes the answers that you get mean not much more In 1994 the Chehalis tribe began the process of developing their water quality standards The tribe wanted to become a more substantial player in actions that might occur both on and off reservation That would affect their waters and they knew the way to get to the table to be that active voice and In decisions that were made was to have their own laws and regulations establishing What they felt were important for protection of their waters Washington state's attitude is let's make this work It hasn't been uh to fight about jurisdiction We have felt that Clean water Is a benefit to all of us The sediment will be washed into the river causing The tribe's natural resources department started holding meetings to inform tribal members and to obtain their input First of all we looked at what are the state water quality standards are and we said Are they tough enough are these the standards we can live with Are these standards are good enough to protect what we are trying to protect and we found out that yes The standards they have are what we would like to have they obviously did not want to Compromise any of their goals or standards, but they wanted to make There's At least in form similar to washington state's knowing that at some time in the future They can refine and tune those standards further to match their reservation waters It was a more Expedient way of getting their standards in place and as a consequence They're one of the few tribes that does have standards in place After the tribal meetings the chehalis tribe went to the community at large to share their ideas and plans I think that's very Important because a lot of times the fear people have not knowing what's going on How is going to impact me? I think tribes need to be very clear and have an open door policy to discuss those matters Whether they are tribal members or not they conducted a hearing they sent out public notices. They um Engaged their community as best they could to get input on their standards before they finalized them and it was it was very successful Then the tribe drafted their water quality standards, which were approved by the epa in 1997 The most important thing for tribes is it gives us a seat at that table and finding a relationship of government government relation to to work together Careful planning open communications and solid relationships Between the community at large the state of washington and the tribal government Enabled the process to run smoothly a few years ago Maybe if one of our community members seeing something going happening to the river Or being put into the river they weren't comfortable with They really had no recourse of well. Gosh look at that. That's not good Once we develop the water quality standards It's like antenna has gone up to every tribal member. I get phone calls from people. I have never met on the reservation Even non-indians call me. We just saw on the sats up river Somebody was dumping this truckload of gravel next to the river. Do you know about it? Somebody they can talk to and say, you know, I've seen this is this ride or is there something we can do about it So so we put one of the remedies Kind of in the middle here and it's not situated in a some state or county agency We have established rules And we have made those rules known to other people And we're prepared to enforce them We have laws in the books to punish those people who are trying to discharge into this water or contaminate this water We don't want the agriculture people to move. We don't want the timber industry to leave We want them to be there We want them to do the right thing and uh There's a right way to cut timber and there's a wrong way. There's a right way to take care of the watershed and there's a wrong way In 2001 the tribe and state signed an agreement to establish a partnership in which both parties Committed to early notification on water quality issues sharing information and consulting before actions are taken Through this agreement the tribe and the state have coordinated management of the water resources in the black and shahalas watersheds They helped to form the shahalas watershed partnership. That's a partnership amongst the governments in this shahalas watershed I think it works to the benefit of all it will minimize Disputes that occur they will benefit from each other's expertise and they will really Work in a cooperative fashion to manage their shared waters The shahalas tribe is seeing progress. They put rules in place to protect their life source the shahalas river And they've been cleaned up on account of the government and the states and the tribes All working together to make it happen It's working You know, maybe it'll take a hundred years to clean that up, but it will be cleaned up And we've started, you know, and that's the most important thing that we've started We're not leaving. We're here We're here and we'll be here a hundred years from now and we'll be sitting at that table together By implementing their water quality standards the akama and the shahalas tribes continue to see positive results Their rivers are running cleaner and fish and plant life are returning The tribe's waters will be protected for generations to come Both tribes saw their water quality deteriorating and took positive steps to improve water quality By developing and implementing water quality standards And it doesn't matter the size of your reservation large or small We all need the protections afforded by water quality standards We encourage all of the tribes to start the process of adopting standards under the clean water act Both the tribal coordinator and the water quality standards coordinator can help the tribe identify sources of money That may be available to help offset the cost of developing standards and implementing them What we did was very first thing is to look at Grants to find money and EPA again came up for money for us. You can buy equipment You can hire people you can train people So how do you get started? Talk to your tribal members So they'll understand the importance of protecting valuable water resources. Their support and involvement is critical If you have a tribal member working in the water quality program You have more at stake because your family lives here your children are growing up here They are using this water this river I would involve all other concerned people anybody that has a concern for the health of their rivers lakes springs and streams To do whatever they can to protect that resource before it's too late Contact EPA's regional office in your area EPA staff is available to provide technical assistance and advice EPA stands ready to work with tribes on developing standards The process of developing standards won't be easy in all places But it's very very important Our water is our future by protecting our rivers lakes and streams today We protect a vital life force for future generations EPA is committed to working with tribes on a government to government basis With states with federal agencies to protect Indian country waters I cannot really overemphasize how important is it that this is the time and opportunity for the tribes To develop their water quality standards being able to say I have the capability My people my tribe has the capability to run this type of program It's our river and it's our water and And if we don't do it then we can't expect somebody else to do it for us. It's Our water at this point, but it's the water for my grandson's from our granddaughters So it is that time that we need to really start focusing on those people that are behind us that are yet unborn We can find a way to make things happen if we're talking together When the rain sings and we don't know what it means We hear the rhythm of bare feet Dancing and we can't figure it out It's the last drop of A refreshing drink from the spring of continuance And all that is left is about a drop of remembering Some say the spring won't fill again from the depths of mother earth and we will be full