The United States Department of the Interior is investing (Jan. 8, 2025) $121-million to help Tribal communities “prepare for the most severe climate-related environmental threats to their homelands.”
In South Dakota, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe is getting $250,000 to begin gathering information and assessing the Tribe’s vulnerabilities that climate change presents for the future of its people, animals, land and water. In addition, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe’s Great Plains Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment will include a strategic water management plan and water code to implement it.
The Lower Brule Sioux Tribe will receive almost $182,000 ($181,744) for a Wastewater Lagoon Study. The assessment will determine whether the wastewater treatment facilities are leaking and potentially threatening the surface and groundwater resources on the Lower Brule Reservation. If inadequacies are found, the study will provide options for repairing, replacing, relocating or consolidating the systems as needed.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North & South Dakota is getting a quarter-of-a-million dollars ($250,000) to update the Tribe’s Water Code and use advanced GIS mapping to assess water resources and address contamination from the Dakota Access Pipeline. The investment will enhance climate resilience by implementing innovative water management strategies and legal frameworks, ensuring sustainable water protection against climate change impacts.
The Yankton Sioux Tribe was allocated $240,100 to develop a Drought Vulnerability Assessment and Drought Adaptation Plan. YST will begin with a drought vulnerability assessment to identify specific vulnerabilities to drought, assess past drought occurrences, identify drought impacts on water resources on the Reservation, and identify the capacity of YST to deal with future droughts. The DAP will identify drought response actions and mitigation strategies for the identified vulnerabilities. The final DAP will be used as a tool to identify and prioritize YST responses before, during, and after drought.
The Interior Department says the combined $121-million investment will help Tribes “proactively plan for and adapt to climate-related threats and safely relocate critical community infrastructure, where Tribes determine that is necessary.”
In total, 96 Tribes and 10 Tribal organizations are receiving funding for 124 different projects. The Interior Department says this is the largest amount of annual funding awarded to Tribes and Tribal organizations in the history of the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Tribal Community Resilience Annual Awards Program.
For more information about the awarded projects and how to apply for future funding opportunities, please visit https://www.bia.gov/service/tcr-annual-awards-program or email resilience.funding@bia.gov.
Comments