Jeff Gruby
65:59 - 66:15
"It quantifies Agua Caliente's water right of 20,000 acre-feet per year with a priority date no later than the executive orders establishing the reservation."
“It quantifies Agua Caliente's water right of 20,000 acre-feet per year with a priority date no later than the executive orders establishing the reservation.”
- Speaker
- Jeff Gruby
- Timestamp
- 65:59 – 66:15
- Community
- Alaska News
- Captured at
- September 16, 2026
From the transcript
To protect the tribe's water, in 2013, Ahwakwante filed a lawsuit against two local water districts who deliver water to the reservation, Coachella Valley Water District and Desert Water Agencies. In 2017, Ahwakwante obtained a landmark ruling that tribes have federal reserve rights to groundwater. 5 Years later, the tribe, the water districts, and the United States reached a settlement That comprehensive agreement is now before Congress. It quantifies Agua Caliente's water right of 20,000 acre-feet per year with a priority date no later than the executive orders establishing the reservation. The tribe will be exempt from fees the water districts charge for pumping of groundwater.
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