AB 2218: Water policy: California Native American tribes.

Existing law establishes various state water policies, including the policy that the use of water for domestic purposes is the highest use of water and the human right to water. Existing law requires the State Water Resources Control Board to act upon all applications for a permit to appropriate water.

This bill would declare that it is the established policy of the state to acknowledge and correct recognize and address the inequities caused by state-sanctioned acts of termination, removal, and assimilation inequities, as described, inflicted upon all California Native American tribes through compensation, legal recognition of rights, or replacement of benefits lost. financial assistance, protection of tribal water uses, consultation on water projects, plans, and policies, and incorporation of indigenous knowledge to restore and protect ecosystems. The bill would require all relevant specified state agencies, including the Department of Water Resources and the State Water Resources Control Board, regional water quality control boards, and the Natural Resources Agency, to consider and incorporate this policy when revising, adopting, or establishing rights, policies, regulations, permits, or grant criteria to address identified inequities. inequities. The bill would require those state entities to identify and offer financial assistance to the tribes consistent with existing legal and policy requirements for financial assistance programs.