March 7, 2023 – California’s Department of Water Resources announced that the annual Tribal Water Summit will take place on April 11-13, 2023, in Sacramento.

Tribal, State, and Federal leaders will gather to discuss water issues and strategies towards watershed resilience.

Notable efforts to reach out to the State’s Tribal communities began with a 2005 update to the California Water Plan, which recommended that Tribal involvement in statewide, regional, and local water planning be increased. “Update 2009” convened a Tribal Communications Committee to advise the Department of Water Resources on how to better contact and communicate with the more than 160 Native American Tribes in California. This led to the creation of the California Tribal Water Summit, with the first summit in November 2009. The goal of the Tribal Water Summit is “to create a roadmap with strategies for preserving Native water rights and providing for the sustainable management of California’s sacred waters.”

Registration is currently open.  Space is limited and priority will be given to Tribal leaders, and federal and state representatives. This year’s Summit will help inform State water policy and advance issues of equity, access, and incorporation of Tribal Ecological Knowledge in the California Water Plan Update 2023.

California’s Water Plan is updated every five years.  The 2023 update will address climate change adaptation, regional support, and water equity.

Image:

The California State Indian Museum in Sacramento, constructed in 1940 on the grounds of Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park. January 25, 2017 by Ronbo76 via Wikimedia Commons, GNU Free Documentation License.