Overview of Disadvantaged Communities and Native American Tribes in the Santa Ana River Watershed

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | December 19th, 2003

This report provides a brief description of Disadvantaged Communities (DACs) and Native American Indian Tribes (Tribes) located in or near the Santa Ana River Watershed (

This report provides a brief description of Disadvantaged Communities (DACs) and Native American Indian Tribes (Tribes) located in or near the Santa Ana River Watershed (SARW), and a summary of water and related resource opportunities and challenges facing these entities.  The information was gathered from several sources including personal interviews, web research, documentation review, and publicly available information. This report addresses DACs and Tribes separately, as they each have very different and distinctive demographics and economic bases. This document is not meant to be an exhaustive analysis of their unique factors, but rather an introduction and, in some cases, an overview of these populations and their unique water resources requirements.  There are legitimate water quality issues that impact low income and Tribal communities throughout the SARW, but some perceptions of unsafe water where water supplies are clearly safe for public consumption identify another problem. The solution to these issues is to ensure that all communities have the information, financial and technical resources, and administrative and regulatory policies they need to make informed decisions that can result in benefits to all members of communities within the Watershed. One of the key provisions found through this research that could assist DACs is the 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Amendments and the 2006 Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) program.  Through the DWSRF, states can provide below-market interest rate loans to publicly and privately owned community water systems and nonprofit non-community water systems for necessary infrastructure improvements. States may also establish separate eligibility criteria and special funding options for economically disadvantaged communities through this program. Section 1452 of the SDWA defines a disadvantaged community as “the service area of a public water system that meets affordability criteria established after public review and comment by the State in which the public water system is located.” Under this section, states may provide additional subsidies (including forgiveness of principal) to communities that meet the established criteria, or that are expected to meet these criteria as a result of a proposed project. Though no special provision was found related to Tribes, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) supports “Tribal Assumption of Federal Environmental Laws” under federal statutes, stating, among other things, that “[t]he Agency will recognize tribal governments as the primary parties for setting standards, making environmental policy decisions, and managing programs for reservations, consistent with Agency standards and regulations.” Three Federal environmental statutes - the SDWA, the Clean Water Act, and the Clean Air Act - explicitly authorize EPA to “treat tribes in the same manner as states” for purposes of implementing various EPA environmental programs that may be of benefit to these communities.

Pathways and Barriers to Corporate Water Stewardship in the Colorado River Basin

Pacific Institute | October 24th, 2023

The Colorado River is the lifeblood of the American West. It supports 30 Native American tribes and farms, cities, and ecosystems in seven US states—Arizona, California

The Colorado River is the lifeblood of the American West. It supports 30 Native American tribes and farms, cities, and ecosystems in seven US states—Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming—and the Mexican states of Baja California and Sonora. However, the river is in crisis. Twenty-three years of drought, the over-allocation of water, and climate change have exacerbated a structural deficit—where more water leaves the system than enters it—for the tribes, communities, and ecosystems that depend on the Colorado River. To advance water resilience in the Colorado River Basin (Basin), accelerated action and investment are required from all sectors. These efforts must be strategic, coordinated, and amplified to effectively tackle the Basin’s challenges. Corporations can play a key role through their operations and supply chains, and by co-funding innovative projects. While a subset of leading companies is engaging in corporate water stewardship (CWS) in the Basin, more is needed to meet the magnitude of the water crisis at hand. This report outlines barriers and pathways to CWS in the Basin based on 20 interviews with corporate and non-corporate stakeholders from February to April 2022, and interviewee feedback on the results. The report is part of a broader Pacific Institute effort to advance CWS in the Basin. We are using these findings to prioritize CWS projects, initiatives, and approaches to pilot and scale in the Basin. More broadly, the findings are applicable to moving CWS toward building long-term water resilience in the Basin and other water-stressed basins around the world.

Petition For Rulemaking to Set Minimum Flows on the Shasta River

Mount Shasta Bioregional Ecology Center | January 20th, 2024

Decades of scientific inquiry make clear that adequate quality and quantity of flows are needed to prevent remaining fish populations from further decline. Yet this scien

Decades of scientific inquiry make clear that adequate quality and quantity of flows are needed to prevent remaining fish populations from further decline. Yet this science is not self-executing; effective government intervention is necessary to prevent the extirpation of salmonids in the Shasta. This type of government action is at the core of the Public Trust Doctrine, which requires the government to act as a trustee over public trust resources, and to the extent feasible, step in to protect these resources from over-allocation and over-use.

Preseason Report I Stock Abundance Analysis and Environmental Assessment Part 1 for 2019 Ocean Salmon Fishery Regulations (PRE I)

Pacific Fishery Management Council | March 1st, 2019

Preseason Report II Proposed Alternatives and Environmental Assessment Part 2 for 2019 Ocean Salmon Fishery Regulations (PRE II)

Pacific Fishery Management Council | March 21st, 2019

Preseason Report III Council Adopted Management Measures and Environmental Assessment Part 3 for 2019 Ocean Salmon Fishery Regulations (PRE III)

Pacific Fishery Management Council | April 30th, 2019

Review of 2018 Ocean Salmon Fisheries Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation Document for the Pacific Coast Salmon Fishery Management Plan

Pacific Fishery Management Council | February 11th, 2019

Review of CDFW Recommendations for the 2022 Readoption of Drought Emergency Regulations on the Scott River and Recommendations for Future Management During Extreme Drought Conditions

Siskiyou Farm Bureau | August 31st, 2022

Sacramento River Temperature Task Group Annual Report of Activities October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018

Delta Stewardship Council (Delta Council) | November 21st, 2018

Salton Sea Management Program and Community Needs

California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) | January 31st, 2024

In the Southeastern corner of the state, straddling Imperial and Riverside counties, the Salton Sea (the Sea) is California’s largest inland lake and home to many Calif

In the Southeastern corner of the state, straddling Imperial and Riverside counties, the Salton Sea (the Sea) is California’s largest inland lake and home to many California Native American tribes and communities. Once a resort destination, the Sea has since become a growing environmental issue. The Sea has been shrinking, largely due to water transfers out of Imperial Valley that reduce inflows to the Sea. Drought and changes to Colorado River water availability exacerbate this trend. Although it continues to provide a vital stop along the Pacific Flyway for migratory birds, the water has become increasingly saline. As the Sea shrinks, it exposes the lakebed that has the potential to release dust, contributing to worsening air quality in a region already struggling with poor air quality from high wind events, idling vehicles, high off-road activity, commercial truck traffic, and agricultural burning. Compounding this, communities in the Eastern Coachella Valley and Imperial Valley have for decades also faced social and economic challenges. While these vibrant communities have rich cultural and natural resources, they suffer from decades of underinvestment. Residents have highlighted that local communities struggle with poor air quality, health issues, low broadband access, unreliable electricity, limited access to recreational opportunities, inadequate transportation systems, and underfunded public health infrastructure and services. These challenges make it difficult to overcome the growing environmental challenges related to the Sea.