- Characterized Tribal groundwater and spring resources through well inventories, aquifer testing, geochemistry, isotope analysis, mapping, and spring-flow measurements.
- Provided technical information supporting identification and protection of springs and groundwater resources addressed in the settlement.
- Developed the Critical Protection Area monitoring plan for groundwater levels and spring flows; the monitoring program is now implemented and ongoing.
- Supported a settlement that quantifies Tribal water rights, establishes protective management measures, and provides substantial funding for water infrastructure, resource protection, and long-term water administration.
GZA d/b/a Glorieta Geoscience supported the Zuni Tribe in documenting and protecting its water resources during the Zuni River Basin adjudication and settlement process. The settlement was developed to quantify the Tribe’s water rights, reduce the cost and uncertainty of continued litigation, establish protections for reservation water resources and the sacred Zuni Salt Lake, and provide a framework for long-term water management.
Challenge
Proceedings to determine the Tribe’s water rights were pending in the Zuni River Basin adjudication. The parties sought a negotiated resolution that would quantify Tribal surface-water and groundwater rights while protecting springs, streams, habitat, and culturally important water resources. The settlement recognizes irrigation, reservoir, impoundment, spring, and groundwater rights; establishes management protections for non-Tribal development, including a Critical Protection Area; and requires monitoring to assess effects of groundwater development on spring and stream flows.
Solution
GZA provided the Tribe with long-term hydrogeologic and field support needed to characterize water resources and establish a technical basis for protection and monitoring. GZA worked with Zuni personnel to inventory and evaluate wells, including well condition, water levels, water quality, video logging, pumping tests, potential future uses, and suitability for long-term monitoring. GZA also conducted a detailed assessment of springs across Tribal lands, including geologic and geomorphic mapping, spring-discharge measurements, water-quality and isotope sampling, aquifer-source evaluation, and identification of locations suitable for long-term monitoring. More recently, GZA developed the Critical Protection Area monitoring plan required by the settlement, evaluated candidate wells and springs, identified monitoring improvements and new well locations, and established a framework for biannual monitoring. The monitoring program has been implemented and is ongoing.
Benefit
The settlement provides the Tribe with quantified and protected water rights and a long-term framework for managing and defending those resources. Key provisions include 19,809 acre-feet per year of surface-water irrigation rights, rights associated with reservoirs and impoundments, and 5,000 acre-feet per year of groundwater for homeland uses. The agreement also establishes measures to protect Tribal springs, restricts additional appropriation in the fully appropriated Zuni River Stream System, creates the Critical Protection Area, requires hydrologic monitoring and modeling, and provides for binding protections for Zuni Salt Lake. The agreement establishes a $719.5 million Water Rights Settlement Trust Fund and a $29.6 million operations and maintenance trust fund for water infrastructure and related Tribal water-resource needs.