Published in The Mammoth Times on August 18, 2022
Earlier this month, a group of local residents and other citizens from all across the Great Basin whose focus is on water issues gathered for the first ever Great Basin Water Justice Summit, held in the city of Bishop. Their focus was on equitable access to dwindling water sources in the Great Basin and, on protecting local ecosystems which depend on that water.
This bringing together of communities which do not always communicate, attendees said, was central to the purpose of this first annual Water Justice Summit. Some of these issues included addressing ongoing local water conflicts with the City of Los Angeles, the role of tribal nations in protecting water, how to build a coalition to fight for future generations and more.
The Water Justice Summit was organized by the Owens Valley Indian Water Commission and the Great Basin Water Network.
The first day of the summit held at the White Mountain Research Center, both in person and by Zoom, with a focus on “the defeat of the Las Vegas pipeline project in Nevada and the ongoing water conflicts with Los Angeles in the Owens and Mono basins” as well as “lightning talks about a range of other water issues emerging across the Great Basin.”
In the first panel, Fighting for Water Justice in Payahuunadü (this is the name for the Owens Valley area given by local tribes), panelists spoke about the different ways that the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s “system of water extraction and export” has upended cultural, social, political, and environmental issues, according to Sophia Borges, Assistant Professor at Boise State University, who helped organize the event and then moderated it.
Representing the diverse kinds of coalitions that are forming around water justice in the Western United States, the panel included Teri Red Owl, Executive Director of the Owens Valley Indian Water Commission, Lynn Bolton, chair of the Range of Light group of the Sierra club, Noah Williams, water coordinator for the Big Pine Paiute Tribe, Geoff McQuilkin, Executive Director of the Mono Lake Committee, and Wendy Schneider, Executive Director of Friends of the Inyo and Coordinator for the Keep Long Valley Green Coalition.
Some of the main topics addressed by the panel:
What are the impacts of water extraction on Indigenous communities?
Teri Red Owl of the Owens Valley Indian Water Commission addressed the unique and deep impact that Los Angeles’ water extraction has made on Indigenous communities, but how they are also often times left out of, or relegated to the past, in those discussions. “It touches me, it hurts me, in my soul,” she said, speaking about how LADWP has changed the land by taking water. The loss of water has led to a loss of cultural identity, as well as health and wellbeing — a forced change in cultural beliefs that has created historical trauma still impacting Indigenous communities today, she said.
At the same time, Red Owl said, that identity and culture is still certainly alive, and many are working to further reconnect with it. “When (LADWP) came in, we were still here, and we’re going to continue to be here,” she said. The work and process of reclaiming water, she said, is also the work and process of reclaiming identity, culture, and racial equity “here in Payahuunadü.”
Noah Williams, water coordinator for the Big Pine Paiute tribe, gave updates on the current state of water extraction, specifically groundwater pumping in Payahuunadü, and spoke about the role that Native nations play in fighting this extraction and finding solutions to protect future generations. He showed slides comparing photos from the 1940s and 1950s with photos from the modern day in the same areas. All showed a large, if not complete, decrease in vegetation. “You see acres of dark vegetation that simply does not exist anymore,” he described of one photo. Williams addressed the cultural differences in perception of water behind this extraction.
LADWP views water as a commodity or resource rather than a necessary part of human life that we also have responsibility to protect, he said. And because of this today, “Our reservation is dry,” he said. “Big Pine, time and time again, is left dry.” He described windy days where large amounts of dust blow around, harming the air quality, and the changes in the types of plants that kids in Big Pine now grow up with. “This is what they have to live through on a daily basis,” he said.
Looking to the future, Williams said, “I believe that Native nations have always been a leading voice in environmental issues, not only in Payahuunadü, but across the nation.”
Thus, it will be important to continue learning “how we can apply our TEK (traditional ecological knowledge) to our current systems, how we as Indigenous people lead these voices and lead these movements to engage our land, water, and overall, the land’s spirit,” he said. “I see us being here as a Native nation much longer than Los Angeles… we will continue to be here as a proud nation.”
Do water extraction mitigation projects work? Not well.
Speaking from her perspective as chair of the Range of Light Group of the Sierra Club, local resident Lynn Bolton gave detailed information on water extraction mitigation projects that LADWP has implemented due to the impacts of their water extraction from the region. Not all of these projects have been successful in mitigating the damage to vegetation, wildlife, and natural ecosystems caused by excessive groundwater pumping and water diversions, she said. The fact that the impact of such water extraction is very hard to fix or even lessen illustrates how deep the impacts are, said Bolton.
For example, at Big and Little Seeyle springs south of Big Pine, the Tinemaha 54 Revegetation mitigation project to restore native vegetation that has died off due to groundwater pumping in the area is not working, she said, displaying photos of the site, which is still not growing back. At the end of the day, she said, “you need water to grow grass.”
Wendy Schneider of the Keep Long Valley Green Coalition, which is working to keep LADWP from taking more water from historically irrigated pastureland leases surrounding all of Crowley Lake and much of Long Valley, also spoke on the relationship between LADWP’s messaging and its actual actions in the Eastern Sierra. She said that one thing she has learned while working with the coalition is that “LADWP’s thirst for water is insatiable.” While the city shares lots of information about its efforts to recycle water and find environmentally-conscious solutions, they have not decreased their water extraction from this region. “These things need to be connected,” she said. “We really don’t want to hear more about how well they’re doing on conservation or developing local water sources if they don’t stop extracting water from up here.”
But building coalitions and connecting causes does work
Schneider also shared some of what she has learned as a coordinator with the Keep Long Valley Green coalition, and the lessons this coalition can provide looking forward to the future. Working with the other people in the coalition, Schneider said that she learned how “the devastation of water extraction is much more” than an impact on plants and animals, but one on humans, communities, an impact she has learned to be substantial and long lasting.
Geoff McQuilkin spoke on how the story of Mono Lake further illustrates the other panelists’ points about the harm of water extraction and the need for alternative water sources for the city of Los Angeles. McQuilkin described how the 1984 court decision that mandated Mono Lake reach the level of 6391 was a landmark victory, but has not lived up to the mandate yet. “The question is, have we gotten to that lake level that the board wanted to see? The answer is no,” he said. “The story today is that the lake is, in fact, perilously low.”
Currently, the Mono Lake Committee is working on developing new paths of action towards raising the lake level to the actual management level, one of which will include another state water board hearing to reassess the situation. One key detail in this work, McQuilkin said, is the Mono Lake Kutzadika’a Tribe’s continued efforts to preserve the lake which, as Chairwoman of the tribe Charlotte Lange put it, is “the physical, cultural, and spiritual center of the Kutzadika’a people.”
Is there hope? Yes.
The day’s events ended with final remarks from Red Owl, who spoke on the importance of holding events like these and looking ahead to the future.
“Sometimes when we don’t see immediate results we can get discouraged… these types of gatherings where we’re learning from other people, like-minded people, and that there are people out there who really do care and want to help, inspires me to keep moving forward,” she said.
While this event is just one step along a long road, one that may not end in many of the panelists or attendees’ lifetimes, she said, “maybe it will. And if it doesn’t, then it certainly will be the generations that come behind us. It’s up to us to continue to bring them.”