Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council (2024)

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

Post Office Box 256

Nixon, Nevada 89424

Telephone: (775) 574-1000

Fax (775) 574-1054

WATER TEAM MEETING MINUTES

Tribal Chambers ~ Nixon, NV

August 21, 2024, WTM

Members Present:

Steven Wadsworth, Tribal Chairman Edward Ely III, Vice Chairman

Harriet Brady, Councilmember Judith Davis, Councilmember

Nathan Dunn, Councilmember Georgina Wadsworth, Councilmember

Nicholas Cortez, Councilmember John Guerrero, Councilmember

Della John, Councilmember Genevieve John, Councilmember

CALL TO ORDER

Chairman Wadsworth called the August 21, 2024, Tribal Council Water Team meeting of the Pyramid Lake

Paiute Tribal Council to order at 6:00 p.m.

ROLL CALL

Roll call was taken by Brenda A. Henry, Tribal Council Secretary. All Councilmembers were present at roll

call and a quorum was established for this meeting. Councilmember Dunn and Guerrero were present via

zoom.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Chairman Wadsworth presented the agenda. He would like to add discussion on a resolution that was

provided to the Council before the Executive Session.

Vice Chairman Ely motioned to approve the agenda for August 21, 2024, with the addition. Councilmember

Cortez seconded the motion. Votes were nine (9) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions.

MOTION PASSED

CONSENT AGENDA

Following item presented on the Consent Agenda:

1. Approval of Kemp Jones July 2024 Invoice

2. Approval Stetson Engineers June 2024 Invoice #1336-01-2406 & 1336-2406

Councilmember Brady motioned to approve the Consent Agenda. Councilmember Guerrero seconded the

motion.

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

August 21, 2024, Water Team Minutes

Councilmember Wadsworth said the Stetson invoice was a month behind and wondered if they are always

that way. Allan Richards said it just may not have been submitted in time to get on the agenda.

Votes were nine (9) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED

MINUTES

1. July 17,2024, WTM minutes.

There were no changes to the July 17, 2024, WTM minutes.

Councilmember Davis motioned to approve July 17, 2024, WTM minutes. Councilmember Wadsworth

seconded the motion. Votes were nine (9) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION

PASSED

PRESENTATION

1. BLM NextEra - Dodge Flat II Project Update. Joshua Carnahan, Acting Field Manager, Sierra Front Field

Office.

Mr. Carnahan said they will be presenting monthly and will also provide a monthly email notification to

keep the Council in the loop of the status for the Dodge Flat Two Project. His tenure with BLM will end by

the next Council meeting, so their District Manager, Kimberly Dow, is present to fill in the gaps and to keep

things moving forward until his replacement is in place. There are not a lot of changes that have happened

with the project since his last email in the first part of August. One update is their Notice of Intent which is

published in the Federal Register and is the official public scoping. It has started moving through their

headquarters department and is working its way through the review process. Publishing in the Federal

Register looks to be in September timeframe and will kickoff the public involvement process with the draft

Environmental Assessment (EA). They hope to have this with the Council for review sometime at the end of

September or early October. One question that has come up is how long will the Tribal review of the EA

take? They try to allow for a 30-day review process for cooperating agencies which the Tribe is.

Chairman Wadsworth confirmed that a 30-day review would be adequate time and would include THPO

and Natural Resources.

Mr. Carnahan said they did submit the cultural report for the Tribe to review, which is also a 30-day time. It

was sent to Sherry Ely-Mendes because Betty Aleck, THPO was out on leave, and they haven’t heard back

on that review. They would like to hear back from the Tribe on the review because there are historic and

prehistoric sites within the area. None of them are eligible to list in the National Register for Historic Places,

however, there are still other sites, and they would like the Tribes to review them. Another topic they want

to talk about is during the first construction of the Dodge Flat one project there were disruptions caused in

the community with traffic. They don’t have to talk about that now, but they would like to hear the

Council’s comments on ways they can possibly minimize those impacts. The original project has design

features that keep traffic down during school hours but if there are other ideas that Tribal members may

have, they would like to hear those comments to build into the project.

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August 21, 2024, Water Team Minutes

Vice Chairman Ely said during Dodge Flat One there were a lot of traffic issue, mostly with the employees

driving their own vehicles. A suggestion would be a yard site to provide a shuttle service for your

employees. Councilmember Brady added there was an increase in the amount of trash they saw with the

employees working there. Councilmember Dunn said there was the off-roading, using another access road

along SR447 to get to the site. Mr. Carnahan said there was only one authorized access road they were

supposed to be using. He will include these issues in the EA for the project and if there are other issues that

come up, to please contact him by email anytime. Councilmember Brady recommended having signs, like

the workhorse barriers indicating unauthorized routes or access.

Councilmember Guerrero asked about the easement. Chairman Wadsworth said it was approved but there

was a minor change that Pilar Thomas, Legal Counsel found, which she amended, and he will have to resign

once he receives it. They will also have to invoice NextEra for the easement. Councilmember Guerrero

asked if they were caught up with their payments. Chairman Wadsworth said he will check on it with the

Finance Department and they do the invoicing also. Councilmember Guerrero asked if they were

supporting the project since the agreement was signed. Chairman Wadsworth said the easement

agreement is just for them to access the road for their studies.

Richard Frazier, Tribal Land Manager, asked if this has gone through Washoe County permitting yet? He

saw it on their agenda a couple months past and hasn’t had any follow up on Washoe County news. Mr.

Carnahan said he didn’t know the answer to that question, it’s a separate process for county permitting

processes.

Councilmember Brady wanted to go back to the cultural report which was provided to Ms. Ely-Mendes, was

she the only person that received the report. Chairman Wadsworth said he received the report also along

with Ms Aleck, THPO who is still going through the information since she was out on leave. Vice Chairman

Ely asked if there is a deadline for the report? Mr. Carnahan said they will wait for the Tribe’s comments

but as soon as possible they can get it built into the EA, but they are willing to work with Ms. Aleck to figure

out a timeframe since she has been out of the office. Chairman Wadsworth said Ms. Aleck has only been

back in the office since the previous Wednesday, he will contact her and give her a heads up.

Councilmember Della John said the mountain that is in the area, there is a site where the Tribe used to

store things in a cave there, is that a part of their study area? Mr. Carnahan said he didn’t believe there was

anything going up the slopes, there is a line that goes to the transmission lines, but it goes along the edge of

the hillside. He is not sure if it goes up the slope or not, but he will take a look to see how far it goes.

Mr. Carnahan said one of the things the Council asked for was an update on all the projects that the Sierra

Front Field Office is doing. He submitted that report with his documents along with the presentation.

Councilmember Cortez appreciated the report but would also like to see dates when they contact the

Tribes.

Councilmember Brady asked about the report on the transmission lines when he was talking about Hug

High School, is that the new high school or the old one? Mr. Carnahan said he was not familiar with that

project, but he could look into it.

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August 21, 2024, Water Team Minutes

NATURAL RESOURCES

Natural Resources Department had no action items.

WATER TEAM

1. Kemp Jones LLP Attorneys at Law Monthly Report. Chris Mixson. Report Submitted

Mr. Mixson is asking for an Executive Session.

Truckee Canal Extraordinary Maintenance EIS - Fernley Lawsuit/Appeal. Mr. Mixson said Fernley

filed their final brief on July 17, 2024. It rehashes the same old arguments about how they think they are

entitled to seepage from the Truckee Canal and how the loss of that seepage because of the lining is going

to dry up their aquifer and they won't be able to provide water. The Feds filed their final brief on Monday

that week and they filed a joinder on behalf of the Tribe. It’s the final brief and then they must do oral

arguments on their cross motions for summary judgment which will be in October or November, then a

decision before the end of the year. He expects Fernley will lose this lawsuit and will go to the Ninth Circuit.

They will be there to be sure nothing is off in terms of the Tribe’s interest and to keep as much water

flowing past Derby Dam. Typically, when a case goes to the Ninth Circuit, there is a round of settlement

talks, and they want to be at the table for that.

TROA “Navy Water.” He will speak more on the Navy Water in closed session because they are still in

settlement negotiations, but they did have a meeting on July 23, 2024, with the Department of Interior's

negotiating team. They presented a conceptual settlement proposal to them. It has not been approved by

the Tribal Council, which they made very clear to them that it was the Water Team’s conceptual proposal.

They have not heard back from the US Fish and Wildlife Service on it either.

CEMEX. They have not heard back from CEMX after the Chairman’s letter, but they did get an email to the

Chairman from Rob Cutter and CEMEX on Saturday evening, which responded to some of the points in the

letter but not all of them. They will discuss more in closed session.

Truckee River Flood Management Authority (TRFMA) - Mitigation Fund Discussions. The $500,000

seed funds for Natural Resources Department did get transferred to the Tribe’s account. They are working

on creating the escrow instructions for how the remaining $16.5 million is going to sit in escrow. It’s going

to be invested by Breakwater Investment Group and when the Tribe needs to draw funds out for a project,

they must submit the project proposal to TRFMA for approval, who sends a notice to the Escrow agent that

the funds can be released to the Tribe. Those instructions were supposed to be made within 60 days of

signing the Mitigation Fund Agreement but that is not going to happen. The resolution is to extend that 60-

day period by another 30 days for those escrow instructions to get done and as soon as those are done and

the accounts are set up, that is when TRFMA will transfer the $16.5 million into the escrow account. On the

resolution, they need to change the effective date of the agreement to August 23, 2024, and it changes the

time for the Tribe to submit it’s comments to the US Army Corps which is tied back to the extension of 30-

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days. The final thing in the agreement which TRFMA wanted to add was language that gives their Executive

Director authority to sign these agreements, so they don’t have to take it to their Board every time. It’s not

the Tribe’s problem but if they wanted to add it in the resolution it doesn’t hurt the Tribe.

a. Approval of First Amendment to TRFMA Mitigation Agreement with Resolution

Councilmember Davis motioned to approve the TRFMA Mitigation Agreement Extension Resolution.

Councilmember Dunn seconded the motion. Votes were nine (9) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0)

abstentions. MOTION PASSED. RESOLUTION NO.: PL 079-24 AMEND TRFMA MITIGATION

AGREEMENT

2. Stetson Engineers Inc. Monthly Report. Allan Richards. Report Submitted

Mr. Richards report covers the month of July.

CEMEX. He will cover his CEMEX brief in a closed session. They had two check-in meetings with CEMEX

during July to get an update on various matters pending. He included updated charts in his attachments to

his progress report. The charts show the water levels in the four monitoring wells which are doing a lot.

The two water monitoring wells on Hill Ranch Road are responding to irrigation deliveries like they did the

previous year. He provided updated aerial photo images that CEMEX created on August 7, 2024, showing

Area D and it highlights the three to one slope wall repairs that they did on Area D which is the same image

they provided to them over the weekend.

Navy Water. As Mr. Mixson mentioned, they had a meeting on July 23, 2024, and are still waiting for a

response to a proposal to retire all or a portion of the Navy water rights in the Carson Division.

They had a TROA/MOA conference meeting in July. Stetson prepared the materials, the discussion

materials for the meeting and hosted it on July 23, 2024.

In June, the US Bureau of Reclamations (BOR) submitted its preliminary determination of irrigated acreage

for the Newlands Project for the 2023 Irrigation Season. They do an annual determination of irrigated

acreage once a year, usually in July and they are given the preliminary report to review and provide

comments on their determinations of lands that were irrigated in the Truckee and Carson Divisions. They

are now using satellite imagery; they fly over the Newlands Project six times during the calendar year. They

review the imagery and provide comments, but their analysis is well refined. 2023 was a unique year

because they were in flood operations in the Carson Division, so they were releasing water out of Lahontan

in precautionary drawdown. Because they were just spreading water, they focused their attention on the

Truckee Division for the 2023 analysis because they weren't receiving any water in the Truckee Canal until

October. BOR finished their canal lining project in September 2023, and they began diverting water from

Truckee River into the canal on October 31, 2023, and they were delivering water just to the Truckee

Division in October, November, and December. There were high losses in the Truckee Canal associated with

delivering water at the end of the irrigation season after the canal had been offline for a better part of the

year. They questioned the decision to deliver water at the end of the irrigation season and commented on

the excessive losses in the canal and suggested there might be alternatives during that type of a situation

where some of the Truckee Division lands, particularly Hazen area and the Swingle Bench area who are at

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the end of the Truckee Canal. Swingle Bench is on TC 13 lateral which is an unlined lateral and it runs a

couple of miles off through the desert sand to irrigate about 200 acres of land that remain water righted

and irrigated on the Swingle Bench which is largely dried up. A lot of the historical irrigated lands, the

water rights on Swingle Bench have been acquired by the Tribe through the Water Right Acquisition

Program and they have been transferring those water rights to instream flows. The need to divert water off

to Swingle Bench is becoming questionable because the losses are so high to get water that far down the

canal and then that far out onto the bench. They submitted comments on that in the middle of August and

BOR invited the Water Team to meet with them in Carson City on September 5, 2024.

Mervin Wright mentioned they had a similar problem called 31 Corporation at the Highway 50 cutoff, an

earth ditch. They had discussions with BOR about that period system and the losses that were attributed to

it. Recommend the Water Team check the records on this.

Truckee River conditions. The Hydrograph of the Truckee River at the Nixon gauge shows the flows in July

averaging about 406 CFS and the fish flow was operating to meet the fish flow regime number one targets.

Currently targets about 200 CFS, it’s going to drop to about 170 CFS in September. Plan to continue with

the flow regime number one through 2024. At the TROA/MOA there were some discussions about

evaporation losses in Pyramid Lake and the upper reservoirs, they will do some research on that which

they will provide at the next TROA/MOA. The updated monthly flows at the Nixon gauge through July 2024,

there are two more months left in this current water year and the modelers are predicting there will be

another 34,000-acre feet of water delivered to the lake or flowing past the Nixon gauge in August and

September. They will end up with a little over 400,000-420,000-acre feet at the end of the water year which

is close to a normal water year. If you look at the entire gauge record for the Truckee River at Nixon Guage,

the average is 420,000-acre feet per year that flows to the lake. Added was a graph for Pyramid Lake water

elevations, he usually will show 20-30 years, but this graph shows the historical lake elevations going back

to 1906 when the Truckee Canal diversions first started. He added the Truckee Canal diversion in five-year

averages, historically going back to 1918 from two different sources of data. The most recent source the

1967 to present is the USGS gauge on the Truckee Canal at Wadsworth and prior to that there is the

historical report that had pre-OCAP diversions to the Truckee Canal to show the correlations between the

two as expected. The first OCAP was issued in 1967 and prior to that, historical diversions were as high as

300,000-acre feet per year through the Truckee Canal out to the Newlands Project. Then the first OCAP was

issued and ever since that time the Lake has been on an upward trend and the Truckee Canal diversions

have been on a downward trend. The OCAP played a critical role in correcting what was occurring when

TCID was diverting all the river water they could down the canal. The Truckee Canal diversions are on

significant decline, most recently the total diversions are now down below 100,000 acre feet. Around 1986,

the lake elevation spiked up over 25 feet because it was a wet year and all the water that was excess flowed

to the lake. The next spike occurred in 1997, another wet year and then in 2017 but the historical peak

flows that occurred prior to the first OCAP in 1967, in the 1950s and 1960s, you didn’t see the spikes

because the water was going to the Newlands Project through the Truckee Canal. There are several reasons

besides the OCAP of why the diversions to the Newlands Project have been decreasing over the years, it’s a

combination of the OCAP and the fact the Tribe has been acquiring water rights in the Truckee Division and

transferring them to instream flows. The irrigated acreage in the Truckee Division is decreasing, the

irrigated acreage in the Carson Division is decreasing and agriculture is converting to municipal uses both

in Truckee Division and the Carson Division. The lake delta is at 3812 which is the river elevation entering

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Pyramid Lake at the top of the delta, the sediment delta that formed at the Lake which is a critical elevation.

The delta is an impediment to fish passage and when the Lake is high, the delta submerges, and the fish

passes upriver towards Marble Bluff. This is something he wanted to show because the historical trend is

showing the Lake’s elevation will eventually go beyond that. With the continued rise in the Lake level there

will be a day when the Lake is going to be lapping at the base of Marble Bluff Dam. It won’t happen in his

lifetime but if the trend continues, it will get there at some point. He’s read reports that historically when

the Lake was at 3870 before the Truckee Canal diversions started in 1906, the Lake was so high that it

would occasionally spill and flow into Winnemucca Lake Basin. Winnemucca Basin is much lower than the

elevations here but the channel from Truckee River to Winnemucca Basin is a down gradient.

Chairman Wadsworth asked if he could blow up the data to poster size. Mr. Richards said he could do that.

Councilmember Brady said he mentioned he left some things off his attached charts. Mr. Richards said he

had handwritten notes where the peak flow years were and he was thinking about including the decrease

in irrigated acreage in the Newlands Project, there is a correlation between the decrease in irrigated

acreage and a decrease in the diversions which would be a chart by itself. He is currently putting together

an analysis on it to show how the Newlands Project irrigated acreage is decreasing over time because he

has been looking at BOR’s annual irrigation determinations for 30 years now and can remember when they

were reviewing 35mm slides taken by low flying aircraft. The Truckee Division had twice if not more

irrigated land than it does now, there is a lot of acreage in the Truckee Division that has converted over to

municipal use. It raises questions that there may be better ways to irrigate the remaining lands in the

Truckee Division, it’s getting down to just over 1,000 acres. There might be options for irrigating those

lands from other sources without having to divert water from the Truckee River.

Mervin Wright asked regarding evaporation if Mr. Richards was at the meeting held on Tuesday. Mr.

Richards said he was not but heard “Curtis” was tasked with compiling data from analyzed that have been

conducted on what the actual evaporation rates are. He only had a brief discussion with him but several

years back, he and Ali Shahroody may have done a water budget looking at the evaporation rates and

Pyramid Lake. He had some historical data that included a water budget analysis, there are a couple of

ways ranging from simple to highly complex to determine or estimate what he Lake evaporation is but the

relatively simple water budget. You can look at the years when the lake level didn’t change very

significantly and in those same years, look at the inflows and the inflows represent the evaporation if there

is no change in lake level. He is going to pull some information and share it with the Water Team.

Mr. Wright requested a copy of his charts also because in March the USFWS indicated that 10 feet elevation

in Pyramid Lake would really be helpful for a fish passage. What he has been advocating in the TROA

meetings is greater inflows into Pyramid Lake. The previous month the discussion was that the evaporation

rate in Pyramid Lake is too high, so they want to leave it in the reservoirs.

Councilmember Brady said she is wondering about evaporation being in the 80s and precipitation around

seven inches with evaporation at 12 and with climate change, how this affects evaporation. Mr. Richards

said it varies year by year, the evaporation rates are a function of several things but in the Lake the

evaporation rates are a function of what the Lake elevation is because when the Lake is lower, the surface

area of the Lake is smaller. When it’s hot, it’s higher, the surface area is greater, so that affects the

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evaporation rate in any given year. There is also the heat and wind that are factors that go into the

evaporation rates. They will be looking at historical data and looking at an average evaporation of the Lake.

Chairman Wadsworth followed up with they will be looking at the data because it’s current data is

supporting the 400,000-acre feet coming into the Lake which keeps it at the same elevation. They must

look at the broader range to double-check the results.

Discussion of Resolution Endorsing the Harris/Walz Ticket for President and Vice President.

Chairman Wadsworth provided the Council with a resolution for discussion on considering endorsing the

Harris /Walz ticket for President and Vice President. He did discuss this with Ms. Thomas, the legal counsel

who said her Tribe does the same thing, they do endorse and have their own polling station at their tribal

office, but it may be different since they are in Arizona. She did not see a problem with it. He also spoke

with Mr. Wright during one of his terms when the Tribe endorsed Senator Reid and gave him a donation.

With that information, the Tribe has done this in the past. Mr. Wright said in 2016, ITCN tried to encourage

Tribe’s to endorse Hillary Clinton, and a number of Tribes did, Pyramid Lake didn’t but there were a

number of Tribes that did. Councilmember Cortez said in 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2022, he worked as a poll

worker here, and every year they had individuals from both parties come and evaluate this specific polling

site because the Tribe went through legal action to have it. The Republican party was more stringent in

ensuring no funny business was going on and they were expected to maintain an impartial form of law to

ensure the polling station was impartial. He is not sure how this would affect it since we received this site

from a lawsuit. His fear is they would use it against the tribe, as well as alienate the Tribal members who do

not have the same viewpoint as most regarding voting and that is the reason he is sticking with entire

impartiality. He doesn’t want to risk what other people before him had fought for and doesn’t want to

alienate them even if he doesn’t agree with someone else’s viewpoint. Doesn’t want to alienate them

coming from our Tribe. Councilmember Della John said the Reno Sparks Indian Colony (RSIC) had some

legal issues with their Tribe, they objected to their poll because they thought people were getting paid to

vote and they were feeding them for free. Councilmember Guerrero said you must think about the bias with

the school district and the Court House here but it’s public access. Councilmember Dunn said it’s still

separate because we were a polling site, we don’t have a flag on who we are supporting because we are

impartial and must maintain that. Councilmember Cortez reiterated it’s a public resolution for anyone to

see, would that waive the Tribe’s impartiality because this is an administrative building for the Council. Mr.

Mixson said he understands what everyone is saying but the flipside of that argument is the Tribe can’t be

expected to give up political activity just because they want to have a polling place on the Reservation.

Councilmember Cortez said they don’t see Republicans come up to administration often, but they must

acknowledge that some of the Tribal members are Republicans. He recommended they ask someone who

was on the Council in 2016 when they were approached to endorse because that was the year the Tribe got

the polling site and if that was the reason they didn’t endorse or what the reasoning may have been at that

time. Mr. Wright said he remembers they decided not to join because Arlan Melendez was Chairman of the

RSIC at the time and he was encouraging them to do it. He can’t remember if it was a vote or they just left it

alone, they talked about it but there any not have been any action taken because it wasn’t on the agenda.

Councilmember Genevieve John recommended they put it on the September 6, 2024, Regular agenda, so the

audience knows and can comment on it.

EXECUTIVE SESSION

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August 21, 2024, Water Team Minutes

Councilmember Davis motioned to move into Executive Session. Councilmember Cortez seconded the motion.

Votes were nine (9) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED. Tribal Council

moved into Executive Session at 7:13 p.m.

Councilmember Dunn motioned to move out of Executive Session. Councilmember Cortez seconded the

motion. Votes were nine (9) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED. Tribal

Council moved out of Executive Session at 8:45 p.m.

ADJOURNMENT

With no further business before the Tribal Council, Vice Chairman Ely made a motion to adjourn the meeting.

The motion was seconded by Councilmember Cortez. Votes taken were all in favor, motion carried.

The meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.

Submitted by,

ana

Brenda A. Henry

Tribal Council Secretary

CERTIFICATION

The foregoing minutes were adopted by the Pyramid Lake Tribal Council, governing body of the Pyramid

Lake Paiute Tribe, at a meeting duly held on the 20% day of November 2024, having nine (9) members

present, constituting a quorum, by the vote of eight (8) FOR and zero (0) OPPOSED, with zero (0)

ABSTENTIONS.

Minutes attested and concurred by: EEA ——

Steven Wadsworth, Tribal Chairman

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

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