Legacies of Broken Promises: Unfulfilled provisions within the Central Valley Project
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When the cornerstone of the Central Valley Project, the Shasta Dam, was completed in 1948, Congress signed the Central Valley Indian Lands Acquisition Act (PL 198-77, 55 Stat 612). This Act was intended to compensate those Native Americans whose land was seized for the construction project. The Winnemem Wintu Tribe, a traditional Northern talifornia Tribe, lost over 90 percent of their ancestral territory with the construction of the dam.
Today, the Shasta Dam is the largest reservoir in the state, providing water for the Central Valley Project, sending the waters of the McCloud, Pitt and Sacramento Rivers south to agricultural contractors in the Central Valley.
Why does the Central Valley Project need to be investigated?
The Central Valley Project (CVP) represents a massive taxpayer investment. Investigations by the Environmental Working Group have shown that the CVP has resulted in large subsidies for the corporate contractors within the CVP. In 2002, almost one in five CVP farms received water subsidies worth an estimated $121.5 million, and crop subsidy checks totaling another $122.3 million. This has come at the environment’s expense – irrigated agriculture has contaminated thousands of acres with toxic drainage water.
Any investigation of the Central Valley Project must examine the Central Valley Indian Lands Acquisition Act
In addition to being a taxpayer drain, the CVP as it stands now rests on a faulty foundation: an unfulfilled Act of Congress. The Central Valley Indian Lands Acquisition Act (CVILAA) authorized several items that to this day have not been granted to the Winnemem Wintu: like lands in compensation for those that were seized; money for infrastructure replacements for what was damaged in the construction; and a cemetery held in trust for the Tribe whose remains were moved and reburied during the construction.
Congress has yet to fulfill their obligations to the Winnemem Wintu Tribe
Sacred and cultural sites, such as villages, were flooded when the Shasta Dam was constructed. Lands allotted to the Winnemem under the Dawes Act were seized. Over 183 deceased Winnemem Tribal members were exhumed from the impacted lands and re-buried in a cemetery the Bureau of Reclamation created.
Today, the Winnemem have not received the like lands promised. They have received no funds for critical Tribal infrastructure lost with the flooding. Winnemem ancestors now lie in a cemetery entitled the “Shasta Lake Reservoir Indian Cemetery” – despite the fact that there are no “Shasta Lake Reservoir Indians.”
It is time to investigate the faulty foundations of the Central Valley Project and implement the Central Valley Indian Lands Acquisition Act.
For more information, please contact:
Mark Franco, Winnemem Wintu Tribe
winnemem@msn.org ,(530) 510-0944
