Kletsel Dehe Wintun Nation partners
with local university on water quality
initiatives
Project Time Period
(FY2015-FY2018)
Tribal Contact: Brett Matzke,
KERA Executive Director
GAP Project Officer: Kate
Fenimore, EPA Region 9
Media: Water Quality
GAP Funded Results:
Consultation & Coordination
Outreach & Education
TAS (or similar) application process
Cortina Rancheria Kletsel Dehe Band of Wintun Indians
Williams, California
Project Description
Kletsel Dehe Wintun Nation's environmental
department established an extensive
partnership with California State University
(CSU) Chico that has included water quality
monitoring, vegetation sampling, producing
a report on water treatment and storage, and
the future design and cost-benefit analysis of
a rain water purification system. This
university collaboration has allowed the tribe
to keep current with relevant academic
research, better administer their Clean Water
Act (CWA) grant, and enhance the
department's capacity to identify, establish,
and manage a student internship program.
The tribe was also able to use the intern's FTE
as an in-kind matching contribution under
EPA grants.
Project Details
After initial meetings with the Chair of the
Department of Geological and Environmental
Sciences in 2014, the environmental
department began the partnership by
working with a graduate class to conduct
CWA 106 monitoring and draft a report on
water purification techniques. The project
then expanded to include the school's
Engineering Department, which contributed
to an interdisciplinary effort to design and
evaluate options for sustainable water
sources on the Rancheria. Given the tribe's
lack of funds for operations and maintenance
of a water system and lack of prior
experience with these systems, the
collaboration will allow Tribal Council to
make a determination on what kind of
system they can afford and what to expect.
Community Response
Several Tribal Council and community
members were closely involved in the initial
needs identification and project scoping
process. As the partnership developed, the
Tribal Council was keptapprised through
meeting presentations and newsletters. The
student interns plan on producing a video
detailing their findings for review by the
Kletsel Economic Development Authority,
Tribal Council, and Wintun Environmental
Protection Agency (WEPA).
innovation
This was the first university partnership for
the tribe and their first experience with
developing and managing a college-level
internship program.
Next Steps
The tribe anticipates continuing to work with
CSU student interns to develop a rainwater
catchment system, produce a Watershed
Management Plan, and draft an Invasive
Species Report. As the partnership develops
further, individual graduate students may be
brought on board for longer-term internships
or to use this project as a thesis project
toward an advanced degree
For more information, please visit the
https://www.kletseldehe.org/.
Environmental Concerns
The Rancheria currently has no source of potable water.
The Rancheria includes three wells of varying depths;
however, these don't meet the tribe's needs in terms of
quality or quantity.
Rancheria Location
The Rancheria is located in the foothills on the west side of
the Sacramento Valley. The total enrollment is 218 with
approximately 20 members living on the Rancheria.
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | American Indian Environmental Office | Washington, DC | EPA 160F18009 | July 2018

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