CA tribes press for guaranteed consultation on water rights

A bill to guarantee consultation between California and tribes on water rights is getting a hearing before a state Senate committee June 23.

Assembly Bill 2218, which passed the state Assembly unanimously, would require state agencies to give tribes a voice on water projects, plans and policies.

Craig Tucker, principal at Suits and Signs Consulting, who advises the Karuk Tribe in Northern California, said the measure would help address past injustices.

“The fact is that water was stolen and the laws were contrived to make that OK, and that's what we're trying to unpack here,” Tucker explained.

In 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order acknowledging past injustices. The bill would write existing state policies into law and provide assurance they would remain in place far into the future. The Association of California Water Agencies opposes the legislation, saying it is too vague and invites excessive legal challenges to water decisions.

Tucker argued past legal challenges to rules requiring tribal consultation show why the law is needed.

“This bill backstops executive orders and ensures that as administrations change, we have protection into the future that there will be consultation between the state of California and tribes,” Tucker emphasized.

Krystal Moreno, program manager of traditional ecological knowledge for the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, said the bill is a necessary first step in attaching action to the governor’s apology.

“We want to see tribal uses of water protected,” Moreno stressed. “We cannot bring our tribal communities back to ancestral village sites and waterways if the water quality is so poor that we cannot get in it.”

The legislation is scheduled to go before the Senate Environmental Quality Committee on July 1.