With tribal representatives in attendance from all across the state, the California Tribal River Summit kicked off Thursday morning at the Table Bluff Reservation with the goal of discussing critical river and water resource issues.

Hosted by the Wiyot Tribe, the two-day summit is highlighting the many ways the tribes are working to protect the health of their rivers and to secure water for their communities into the future.

Wiyot Tribal Chairperson Cheryl Seidner said in a news release before the event that it is important that tribes come together now, before it is too late, and consider new ideas for improved stewardship of rivers and other tribal waters.

“I believe we can learn from each other’s experiences and become more equipped to reach our common goals as a result,” Seidner said.

The summit’s morning events Thursday included a discussion titled “Lessons and strategies learned from the Klamath River Watershed,” which featured a panel of speakers who covered the ongoing Federal Energy Regulation Commission’s relicensing of three Klamath River dams, as well as perspectives of the river from the Yurok and Karuk tribes.

Speaking to the issue of why the dams need to be removed was Merv George Jr., administrator of the Klamath River Inter-Tribal Fish and Water Commission, which is comprised of the Hoopa, Karuk, Klamath and Yurok tribes.

In a PowerPoint presentation, George outlined how the once unobstructed Klamath River had gone from the third greatest salmon-producing river in North America to a river system out of balance, which now supports less than 10 percent of its historic salmon populations.

George told the attendees that PacifiCorp’s dams should be removed because they prevent fish from returning to 350 miles of spawning habitat in the upper watershed, as well as divert water much needed for fish.

During the afternoon session, a panel of speakers tackled the topic of models for river stewardship of the locally important Mad and Eel rivers and water resource management efforts by the Pomo American Indian descendants of the Lake County-area Robinson Rancheria.

In contrast to how some tribes have organized and are cooperating in order to remove dams on the Klamath River, Tule River Tribe’s Charmaine McDarment gave an overview of how her tribe was negotiating to construct a $26 million dam project on the Tule River in Tulare County.

The proposed dam on the Tule River, which McDarment said dries completely in summer months, is being considered by the tribe to retain water from wet years to be available in dry years to provide more municipal water for the 900 tribal members on the reservation and for helping with future economic development, including commercial stores and agriculture production.

In an address to close the day’s discussion, Caleen Sisk-Franco, chief of the Mt. Shasta-area Winnemem Wintu Tribe, told the group there is nothing more important than protecting the earth’s water.

“I am so glad that all of you have come and that you are interested in this issue because this is what life is,” Sisk-Franco said. “There will be nothing left if we don’t take care of the water.”