Water Availability for Tribal Treaty Rights in Western Washington
The Issue:
Native American treaty rights depend on the availability of adequate and high-quality streamflow across the Western Washington, which can be degraded by water and land use, reservoir operations, and climate change among other factors. Streamflow during critical low-flow periods depend on groundwater discharge from aquifers, which also is vulnerable to human activities in the Western Washington such as groundwater pumping and impermeable land cover.
How USGS will help:
USGS will work with Native American tribes in the Western Washington to assess water availability for instream flows, identify current and future threats to water availability (quality and quantity), and extend the capacity of regional surface water and groundwater monitoring networks to provide information about the quantity and quality of streamflow available to maintain tribal treaty rights and reserved water rights. A key objective for this project is to identify river segments where water availability is vulnerable to changing climate, land use, or consumptive uses of water.
Problem:
Native American treaty rights depend on the availability of adequate and high-quality streamflow across the Western Washington, which can be degraded by water and land use, reservoir operations, and climate change among other factors.
Objectives:
The project will identify reaches of major rivers in the Puget Sound basin that receive large inputs of groundwater. The project will also assess how water availability needed to maintain Tribal treaty rights is likely to change in the future.
Relevance and Benefits:
River reaches with large inputs of groundwater are likely to provide habitat for salmon spawning and rearing that will less sensitive to climate change and, thus, may be important regionally for protection and restoration activities. Water quality management of surface and groundwater in these areas will be critical to maintain their ecological integrity.
Approach:
Install and operate five streamflow gages in areas where current streamflow monitoring has low spatial resolution of sources of streamflow. Conduct synoptic surveys where streamflow will be measured along key reaches of major rivers to identify gaining reaches where groundwater discharge to rivers in important for water availability. Link the gaining reaches to areas of aquifer recharge where land and water use could impact water availability. Assess current water availability and its vulnerability to climate and land use change.
The Issue:
Native American treaty rights depend on the availability of adequate and high-quality streamflow across the Western Washington, which can be degraded by water and land use, reservoir operations, and climate change among other factors. Streamflow during critical low-flow periods depend on groundwater discharge from aquifers, which also is vulnerable to human activities in the Western Washington such as groundwater pumping and impermeable land cover.
How USGS will help:
USGS will work with Native American tribes in the Western Washington to assess water availability for instream flows, identify current and future threats to water availability (quality and quantity), and extend the capacity of regional surface water and groundwater monitoring networks to provide information about the quantity and quality of streamflow available to maintain tribal treaty rights and reserved water rights. A key objective for this project is to identify river segments where water availability is vulnerable to changing climate, land use, or consumptive uses of water.
Problem:
Native American treaty rights depend on the availability of adequate and high-quality streamflow across the Western Washington, which can be degraded by water and land use, reservoir operations, and climate change among other factors.
Objectives:
The project will identify reaches of major rivers in the Puget Sound basin that receive large inputs of groundwater. The project will also assess how water availability needed to maintain Tribal treaty rights is likely to change in the future.
Relevance and Benefits:
River reaches with large inputs of groundwater are likely to provide habitat for salmon spawning and rearing that will less sensitive to climate change and, thus, may be important regionally for protection and restoration activities. Water quality management of surface and groundwater in these areas will be critical to maintain their ecological integrity.
Approach:
Install and operate five streamflow gages in areas where current streamflow monitoring has low spatial resolution of sources of streamflow. Conduct synoptic surveys where streamflow will be measured along key reaches of major rivers to identify gaining reaches where groundwater discharge to rivers in important for water availability. Link the gaining reaches to areas of aquifer recharge where land and water use could impact water availability. Assess current water availability and its vulnerability to climate and land use change.