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EPA approves Hualapai Tribe's standards to protect water quality

Release Date: 9/17/2004
Contact Information: Wendy L. Chavez, (415) 947-4248

SAN FRANCISCO -- On a visit today to the Hualapai Reservation in Arizona, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Regional Administrator Wayne Nastri announced the approval of the tribe's water quality standards for surface waters on the reservation.

The tribe worked with the EPA to develop and adopt water quality standards that provide the foundation for protecting waters on the Hualapai Reservation. The standards provide criteria for regulating discharges into waterways on the tribe's land and targets benchmarks for assessing the tribe's water quality.

"Today marks a great achievement for the Hualapai Tribe," said Nastri. "Having approved water quality standards strengthens the tribe's ability to protect, restore and maintain its water resources under the Clean Water Act."

Today's action follows the EPA's approval on July 22 of the tribe's application to administer the water quality standards and certification programs under the Clean Water Act.

The Hualapai Tribe is the third within the EPA's Pacific Southwest region to receive approval of its water quality standards -- following the White Mountain Apache Tribe in Arizona in 2001 and Northern California's Hoopa Valley Tribe in 2002.

The Hualapai Tribe encompasses approximately 993,000 acres and is bounded on the north by the Colorado River and borders the lower end of the Grand Canyon. The EPA's approval does not include the Colorado River. The other boundaries of the reservation form a U-shape containing mountains, valleys and canyons.