WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Friday, Feb. 27, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell will sign an historic agreement at the Department of the Interior that will guarantee water rights for the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation on the Nevada-Idaho border while providing certainty for upstream water users.
Secretary Jewell will be joined by Shoshone-Paiute Tribal Chairman Lindsey Manning and other Duck Valley Reservation Council members, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn and other federal, tribal and state dignitaries.
The agreement specifies tribal rights in relation to upstream water users on the East Fork of the Owyhee River and provides for tribal water development projects.
The settlement act authorizes the Tribes $60 million in funding for water-related uses, which has been fully appropriated in past fiscal years. The Secretary's signature will provide final Federal approval of the Shoshone-Paiute agreement, first authorized as part of the 2009 Omnibus Public Land Management Act. When the settlement is final, it will enable tribes to use the funds to completely rehabilitate the Bureau of Indian Affairs irrigation project serving the Duck Valley Reservation, as well as for other water-related purposes.
Who: Sally Jewell, Secretary of the Interior
Kevin Washburn, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs
Lindsey W. Manning, Tribal Chairman, Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation
Buster Gibson, Tribal Vice-Chairman, Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation
James Blossom, Council Member, Shoshone-Paiute Business Council
Other Federal, tribal and state dignitaries
What: Signing Ceremony for Shoshone-Paiute Water Rights Agreement
Where: U.S. Department of the Interior 1849 C Street, N.W. Washington, DC
This event will be live streamed at www.doi.gov/live
When: Friday, Feb. 27, 2015, 11:00a.m. EST
Media: Credentialed members of the media are encouraged to RSVP here by Thursday, February 26 at 6:00 p.m. EST.
Source: Department of Interior
