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Wetland Program Development
via the Clean Water Act, Hopi
Reservation, Arizona
Hopi Water Resources Program
Lionel Puhuyesva – Director James A. Duffield R.G. – Hydrogeologist Max Taylor – Hydrologic Technician II
The Hopi Reservation
A land of high desert.
Where the Hopi have resided for over 1,500 years.
Water in the High Desert Where residents depend on groundwater.
A land of violent summer thunderstorms
Current Reservation Boundaries
The Hopi Reservation is located entirely in the State of Arizona. District Six, reserved exclusively for Hopi use, consists of 2,500 square miles. Other holdings include the joint use area with the surrounding Navajo Reservation and new land ranches near Flagstaff.
Hopi District Six, the Hopi Mesas
The broad plateau of Black Mesa is dissected by several northeast oriented canyons that divide the plateau into fingers or mesas. The Hopi Villages are located on these southwest oriented fingers on First, Second, and Third Mesa.
“The Hopi Tribe is a union of self-governing villages sharing common interests and working for the
common welfare of all…” First Mesa
Walpi Sichomovi Hano (Tewa) Polacca Keams Canyon Second Mesa Shungopavi Sipaulovi Mishongnovi Third Mesa Oraibi Hotevilla Bacavi Kykotsmovi Upper Moenkopi Lower Moencopi
Hydrology of the Hopi Lands
Surface Water of the Hopi, the Little Colorado River Watershed
District Six Contains Five Major Surface Water Drainages.
From west to east they are: Moenkopi Wash Dinnebito Wash Oraibi Wash Polacca Wash Jeddito Wash They are characterized by intermittent flow, with perennial reaches fed by groundwater.
Surface Water is Rare, With Streamflow Dominated by Precipitation Events
Short stretches of perennial flow are fed by groundwater discharge as seen at Polacca Wash, Hopi Reservation. A rare surface water discharge point from the “D” aquifer.
Wetlands on the Hopi Reservation are almost exclusively associated with groundwater discharge, either at springs or in riparian zones.
Aquifers of the Hopi Reservation
We deal with seven aquifers on Hopi. From the highest to lowest they are: Alluvial: Along streambeds Volcanic: Limited extent “T” Aquifer: Toreva Formation “D” Aquifer: Dakota Formation “N” Aquifer: Navajo Formation “C” Aquifer: Coconino Formation “R” Aquifer: Redwall Formation T, D, N, and C are most important. Most wetlands are formed at discharge points from the T and the N.
The “T” Aquifer Supplies Water to The Village Springs.
The “T” Aquifer springs at Hotevilla. Shallow and easily impacted by nutrients, e-coli, and other human or animal activities
The “N” Aquifer is the Most Important on the Hopi Reservation
Sole Source drinking water aquifer for the Hopi, high in arsenic to the east. Increasingly impacted by municipal uses from Navajo and Hopi. Forms large wetland areas at Pasture Canyon, Blue Canyon, and Begashibito Wash
Grant Program The Hopi Tribe Wetland Program Development grant was
funded cooperatively between EPA Region 9 and the Hopi Tribe under the CWA Section 104(b)(3) WPDG Track 1 FY2012 Competitive Wetland Program Development Grant program.
History of the Clean Water Act The Rivers and Harbors Appropriation Act of 1899. Illegal to
discharge refuse matter into the navigable waters, or tributaries thereof, of the United States, to excavate, fill, or alter the course, condition, or capacity of any port, harbor, or channel, or dam navigable streams without a permit from Congress.
The basis of the CWA was enacted in 1948 and was called the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948. It took many provisions from the 1899 law, which remains viable under the Corps of Engineers
The Act was significantly reorganized and expanded in 1972. "Clean Water Act" became the Act's common name with amendments in 1972.
The Clean Water Act (CWA) establishes the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States and regulating quality standards for surface waters.
Major Components of the CWA All waters with a "significant nexus" to "navigable
waters" are covered under the CWA
The 1972 act introduced the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)
In the Water Quality Act of 1987 Congress addressed diffuse sources in Non-point, Section 319.
Section 106, Pollution Prevention EPA provides financial assistance in the form of water pollution control (Section 106) grants to states, eligible interstate agencies, and eligible tribes.
Section 104(b)(3) Wetlands : protect and improve wetlands within their jurisdictions by awarding monetary grants.
Types of Grants
Base funding versus Competitive grants.
Base grants: 106 Pollution Prevention and 319h Nonpoint Source Pollution. Funding is dependent on land base and dependant upon Federal Recognition, Treatment As State, detailed workplan, and past performance.
Competitive grants: 319h Nonpoint Source and Section 104(b)(3) Wetlands. Requires proposal submission and ranking by a national committee.
EPA Regions
Hopi WPDG Outputs 1) Development of the Hopi Tribe Wetland Program
Plan
2) Wetland Bioassessment QAPP
3) Development of wetland monitoring protocols.
4) A proposed set of Water Quality Standards for Wetlands
5) Training of four Hopi WRP employees in wetland assessment protocol.
Output #1 Wetland Program Plan
Wetland Program Plans (WPP) are voluntary plans developed and implemented by state agencies and tribes which articulate what these entities want to accomplish with their wetland programs over time. The WPPs describe overall program goals along with broad-based actions and more specific activities that will help achieve these goals.
Components of a Wetland Program Plan
Monitoring and Assessment
Regulation
Voluntary Restoration
Water Quality Standards for Wetlands
Core Elements Framework (CEF)
EPA identifies four core elements that comprise and strengthen effective wetlands programs. The core elements are basic program functions that form the foundation of wetlands management and protection in a state or tribe.
A common set of program objectives that comprise a comprehensive wetland program. 1. Monitoring and Assessment; 2. Regulatory activities including 401 certification; 3. Voluntary Restoration and Protection; 4. Water Quality Standards for wetlands.
Output #2 Wetland Bioassessment QAPP
The purpose of the Bioassessment QAPP is to compile the minimum data quality standards necessary for measurement of biologic indicators to standardize data collection methods and data quality measurements. Prepared by William T. “Lee” Roberts and Dr. Larry Stevens.
Output #3 Development of wetland monitoring
protocols.
A defined set of field practices to assess the hydrology, water quality, biology, solar input, and threats.
Output #4 Water Quality Standards for Wetlands
Components of WQS Water quality standards consist of four basic elements: 1) Designated uses; 2)
Water quality criteria; 3) Antidegradation policy and 4) General policies.
Identification of appropriate water uses takes into consideration the usage and value of public water supply, protection of fish, wildlife, recreational waters, agricultural, industrial and navigational water ways.
Water quality criteria can be numeric criteria for protection against pollutants. A narrative criterion is water quality criteria which serves as basis for limiting toxicity of waste discharge to aquatic species. A biological criterion is based on aquatic community which describes the number and types of species in a water body.
Anti-degradation procedures identify steps and questions that need to be addressed when specific activities affect water quality.
General policies: These provisions regarding water quality standards include mixing zones, variance, and low flow policies.
Output #5 Training of four Hopi WRP employees in
wetland assessment protocol. Office/laboratory training and field training was conducted by Dr. Larry
Stevens and Jeri Ledbetter of the Springs Stewardship Institute
Outcomes
-An enhanced knowledge of wetland health and condition.
-Increased knowledge of the location of culturally significant seeps and springs.
-Coordination of wetland protection efforts among tribal programs.
-The promotion and acceleration of research into which wetland areas are most at risk from aquifer depletion.
Wetland Proper Functioning Condition
Wetland functions can be understood as the ecological processes that take place within a wetland. These functions generally fall into three categories: physical, chemical, and biological. These categories consider numerous factors to determine how well a wetland performs these functions. Wetland functions may include:
surface water storage maintaining a high water table the transformation and cycling of elements retaining and removing pollutants maintaining characteristic plant communities food chain support
Threats to Hopi Wetlands
Results The springs and associated wetland areas of the Hopi lands have
been impacted by a variety of stressors. Invasive species, drought, groundwater withdrawal, grazing, and other human impacts have degraded wetland health.
The FY 2012 Hopi Wetland Program Development Grant enabled the Hopi Tribe to move toward quantifying these impacts reservation wide.
Better trained staff, financial support to visit remote yet significant wetlands, defined protocols and standards, and an increased sophistication in the characterization and evaluation of wetlands has enabled the Hopi Tribe to better manage its unique surface water resources.
The Hopi Tribe appreciates the support of Region IX EPA in furthering tribal capability and sovereignty though its CWA Wetlands program.
Hotevilla Spring
Preserving the Environment to be Enjoyed by Future Generations
Thank You From the Hopi Tribe Water Resources
Program
Hopi Water Resources Program Dedicated to Wendell Smith, USEPA Region 9