Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council (2025)

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 20, 2025, WTM

Members Present:

Steven Wadsworth, Tribal Chairman Edward Ely III, Vice Chairman

Loren Decker, Councilmember Judith Davis, Councilmember

Nicholas Cortez, Councilmember Nathan Dunn, Councilmember

Georgina Wadsworth, Councilmember Della John, Councilmember

Member Absent: Ceira Sampson, Councilmember

CALL TO ORDER

Chairman Wadsworth called the August 20, 2025, Water Team meeting of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal

Council to order at 6:00 p.m.

ROLL CALL

Brenda A. Henry, Tribal Council Secretary, took roll call. Councilmember Sampson was absent. All other

Councilmembers were present at roll call, and a quorum was established for this meeting.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Chairman Wadsworth presented the agenda with the following changes: add approval submission of FY25

Historic Preservation Annual Grant to Consent Agenda, add request for approval of Pond A Restoration Plan

- CEMEX under Unfinished Business, remove item #3. Request for approval AIS Ordinance under Unfinished

Business and add a discussion to change the date of the November Water Team meeting.

Councilmember Dunn motioned to approve the August 20, 2025, Water Team meeting agenda with changes.

Councilmember Cortez seconded the motion. Votes were eight (8) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0)

abstentions. MOTION PASSED

CONSENT AGENDA

The following items were contained under the Consent Agenda:

Approval of Kemp Jones July 2025 Invoice

Approval Stetson Engineers Inc April 2025 Invoice 1336-2506 and 1336-01-2506

Approval Stetson Engineers Inc NFWF Invoice #2899-020

Approval Stetson Engineers Inc Induction Well design for Herman Ditch Invoice #2837-024

Approval Submission of FY25 Historic Preservation Annual Grant.

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Vice Chairman Ely motioned to approve item #1 through 5 on the Consent Agenda. Councilmember Davis

seconded the motion. Votes were eight (8) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION

PASSED

MINUTES

1. Approval of Minutes.

a. April 16,2025, WTM. No changes and no further discussion.

Vice Chairman Ely motioned to approve the April 16, 2025, WTM minutes. Councilmember Decker seconded

the motion. Votes were eight (8) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED

b. July 16,2025, WTM. No changes and no further discussion.

Councilmember Davis motioned to approve July 16, 2025, WTM minutes. Councilmember Cortez seconded the

motion. Votes were eight (8) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED

PRESENTATION

1. Marble Bluff Project Update. Sarah Horgen, BOR

Ms. Horgen provided an update on the island removal and upper reach project at Marble Bluff. The project

aims to restore fish passage operations and stabilize the riverbank to protect the facility from erosion. The

project location is on the Truckee River, approximately three miles upstream of Pyramid Lake ion Nixon and

includes two design reaches: the island removal project and the upper reach project, each with specific goals

and design features. Key stakeholders include the US Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), US Fish and Wildlife

Service (USFWS), Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe and landowners. The island removal project involves excavating

20,000 cubic yards of material and stabilizing 1,000 feet of riverbank. The upper reach project aims to

stabilize an additional 1,500 feet of riverbank. Design details include a stone toe, fabric encapsulated soil lifts,

and geosynthetic hydraulic structures. Two alternatives were considered: Alternative A (stone toe protection

with bendway weirs) and Alternative B (full channel realignment). Alternative A was selected as the

preferred alternative after a value engineering workshop. The selected alternative aims to protect against

in-stream erosion and overland flow from adjacent agricultural lands. The project is currently in the final

design phase, with construction expected to begin in the fall of 2026. It was recommended this presentation

be given to the Pyramid Lake Fisheries Board of Trustees, which Ms. Horgen agreed they could do. There

were concerns raised of mercury found on the island. Ms. Horgen explained the disposal plan and testing

results. It was asked if the landowners were contacted. Ms. Horgen confirmed they contacted two out of three

landowners.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

1. Request for Approval of Pond A Restoration Plan. Robert Cutter, CEMEX

Mr. Cutter explained they ae updating their request from May for the remaining reclamation of Area A, the

north wall, east wall, and the south pond. There were issues and concerns raised by the Council and the

Water Team. There was collaboration between the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Bureau of Land

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Management (BLM) regarding those issues, and they collaborated on the solutions and that is what they

will be presenting. In reference to reclamation of Area A, there is the west wall, which is in process, the

north wall is partially in process to provide access to the west wall, but they need final approval for the

reclamation. There are three areas he will be focusing on, the north, east and south pond. First an update on

the west wall where construction has begun. This area has three sections, there is the staging area which is

staked off and is where Q&D Construction, the contractor has established their construction office. This

area will also be used for staging the rock for the project, equipment, and parking, it will be the main safety

zone for anyone entering the site. The rock will be transported across Hill Ranch Road to the west wall.

They had a community meeting with Q&D, CEMEX, and the Wadsworth Community for the traffic control

plan to make the public aware of the plan and answer any questions. They didn’t see Richard James at the

meeting, so they met with him individually to make sure he was comfortable since his homesite is close to

the project. They're starting to stabilize the north road which will be access to the west wall. The next step

will be the west wall repair which will occur over the next two to three weeks when they will start bringing

in rock. They already have 60-70,000 cubic yards already produced at the source site which they will be

bringing over in a couple of weeks so there will be some increased truck traffic. Beyond this there is the

floating conveyor system that will be used which will be put on the lake to help place the rock along the

west wall. Continuing, there were concerns that were raised on the north wall, east wall, and the south

pond but on the north and the south which was sloping. There were areas that didn’t meet the three to one,

particularly above water when it comes to public safety and the lease requirement. On the north wall,

sections B & E were approved but only have a two to one slope. There was a request to find a way to get

them to a three to one slope. There were also questions on the north wall to validate the culvert outlet and

whether there was enough capacity to handle outflow at a maximum level. For the east wall, there were no

concerns, so they are asking for approval for the original proposal. In the south pond, there was the same

sloping issue in SP three, the best they could get was a two to one because they were running out of land

hitting the lease boundary. The recommendation was to consider a proposal that would encroach a little

beyond the lease boundary to get a three to one slope. Provided were designs to show what that would look

like, and this is what they are asking approval for.

To further explain the issues above, Mr. Cutter said areas B & E which didn’t meet the three to one above

water, and they are addressing these. The lease requirement is three to one from crest to toe. For B, they

are planning to do backfill to get to the two to one that they are proposing. Their engineers have redone

and redesigned and stamped it to add an additional 3m700 cubic yards of select fill to that area. With the

addition of selected fill, it will allow them to get to a three to one crest to toe in that area. Section E which is

near the far-left side close to the west wall, the issue was sloping, they had gotten it to a two to one but

went back and relooked at it and they had room to make it a three to one. With the culvert outlet, Robinson

Engineering validated capacity, and there is a document to show the detail where the capacity of this

culvert outlet will be able to transmit up to two times the maximum flow of water.

Vice Chairman Ely said on the first request they said validate capacity of culvert and mentioned it has been

approved by their engineer. Are they asking for approval for that one also? Mr. Cutter said they are asking

for approval of their plan for the north wall which had an alternative for the Council to choose if they

wanted the culvert because the Council wants to know if it had enough capacity and they are validating that

it does.

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Mr. Cutter said he won't address the east wall because everything was fine with it. Moving to the south

pond, the SP3 area was a challenge to get to a three to one because they didn’t have room to work with, the

closest they could get was a two to one. The area is a 313 ft section in the south part of the pond. To get toa

three to one they are proposing to encroach by 12.6 feet beyond the lease boundary. Vice Chairman Ely

asked why couldn’t they go into the pond? Mr. Cutter said if they went into the pond, they would have to do

another backfill situation to put rock into the bottom of the pond and there is no stability. The reason they

did that with the west wall is because of the issues of getting to the slope and stability and they brought the

rock in to really stabilize it for factors of safety. Factors of safety are fine in the south; it's just getting the

slopes for public safety. In reviewing the designs, they found on the north section of the south pond another

50-foot section they want to address, it would require a 4-foot encroachment beyond the lease boundaries

to get to a three to one. This is the change they are making for the south pond.

Further discussion occurred in Executive Session with the Water Team.

2. Request for Approval of Regulations Brochure Changes. No comments received after 30 days posting.

Vice Chairman Ely had a question and concern regarding the closure of the area around the Popcorn Rock

area, itis a good-sized area, to the cattle guard area. His understanding is the new mussel can adapt in the

lake water, true? Adrienne Juby, AIS, and interim Water Quality Manager said it can potentially tolerate

higher salinities with freshwater pulses, so that mixing zone area can extend that far. Justin Jackson, AIS

Technician, added it’s the most chemically vulnerable place in the lake because of the fresh water coming

in, especially during springtime, the high flows coming out, sometimes you will see milky water going all

the way to the Block House, it’s a pretty good sized portion of the lake. Percentage wise, the lake is 27 miles

long and they want to shut one and a quarter mile of that now for boaters and shore fisherman would still

be allowed. Ms. Juby explained that since it’s in the boating closed water section, it only pertains to boating

and doesn’t include fishing or recreational use and because of the classification of boats in the regulations it

includes kayaks, canoes, and any type of water vessel.

Councilmember Decker asked about the location which states, “this closure from the south end of the cattle

guard to the east of Howard’s Bay.” The locals will know where this is but think the area will need to mark

so itis visible because there are no cattle guards there anymore. Councilmember Davis said there is a line

drawn on the road. Ms. Juby said they originally thought if they said a mile and a quarter, nobody would

know what that was, and with the markers being the cliffs at Howards and the cattle guard and she thinks

there is still a sign by the road that says cattle guard. Of course, if you're in a boat you wouldn't see that, but

they could put buoys or some sort of other visible marker.

Councilmember John asked how they came up with a mile and a quarter. Ms. Juby said it’s based off

mapping and looking to where the mixing zone extends, it’s around 2,000 meters but they chose a mile and

a quarter because people recognize that it is easier than meters.

Councilmember Cortez said he looked at the recommendation from Mr. Mitchells, Ranger Supervisor, how

does the department plan to not only educate the public but cover the cost of marketing and the buoys. Ms.

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Juby said the currently make contact with the boaters at the inspection station and educate them on the

clean, drain and drying their boats and are the contact for people with questions about the regulations and

inform them of all the areas that are closed to the public. Mr. Jackson said they also utilize their Facebook

page and share information with the Tribe’s social media page for a wider audience base. There is also their

Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) website as well but, it is the boater’s responsibility to know the regulations,

but they do follow-up with their social media pages. They could also put up additional signage at the boat

launch and do more You Tube videos.

Councilmember John said she ready where they were worried about impacting the fishing guide business

who use the area. They are slowly cutting off all the access to the small boats in the southern end. Mr.

Jackson asked when those comments were received because they were told there were no comments

within the public posting. Brenda Henry, Tribal Secretary said those comments were received from Rutilio

Lara and the Pyramid Lake (PL) Fisheries Board of Trustees (BOT) when the poll vote was forwarded to

them and they were told there were no comments received. Mr. Justin said they would be wanting to

sequester the southern end, which is their goal to prevent people from utilizing it. Councilmember John

said it would impact their revenue, there was no cost analysis done and if they make that decision now that

it’s closed, what would that do to their revenue. Mr. Juby said the Council already closed the Popcorn area

in December. Councilmember John said if there is no consistency in keeping the inspection stations open

then they are defeating themselves. Ms. Juby said if they were to make the inspections mandatory, then

everybody would have to come through them. They believe a lot of people are showing up after hours to

avoid them or when the Rangers are not on duty and they are probably not buying permits either. If the

lake gets the golden mussels, the result will be devastating to the fisheries, and you will lose all the anglers

and recreational users due to the sharp odiferous shells that would be littering the beaches. Making

inspections mandatory would be short term in protecting the lake and the revenue in the long run.

Councilmember Dunn asked why they didn’t mandate stopping at the station for non-motorized hand

launched watercraft but instead are encouraged. Ms. Juby said it’s an enforcement issue. It’s mandatory to

stop at the watercraft inspection station when it’s open for all motorized and or trailered watercraft, when

it’s closed, it’s encouraged that people fill out a self-inspection form. Kayaks, canoes, and little drift boats

are not high risk and so they are encouraged to fill out the self-inspection form. If they had a place online or

a QR code, then people can complete the form that way and they would enter their license plate number so

when a Ranger comes by, they can look them up that way as an additional measure.

Councilmember Decker asked what the hours would be. Ms. Juby said they would be open as long as

possible with the staff they have but they did just get awarded the Tribal Wildlife grant that was supposed

to start in October of this past year. It’s not official in their budget yet but that is for additional staff at the

inspection station. They are applying for another QZMP grant which is on the agenda for this evening and

another golden mussel grant that is coming up. The more staff they have, the more hours they can stay

open. The goal is seven days a week with staggering shifts. Their current hours are from 8:30am to 4:15pm,

Tuesday, through Saturday, but they will shift their hours during the fishing season to an earlier schedule.

They will be staggering people to try and be open seven days a week if it were made mandatory, they

would make sure they had people to cover the whole week. They would also provide a boat wire seal for a

boater that comes off the water, they can get resealed and expedite their inspection.

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Vice Chairman Ely said the earlier the better, he has seen fisherman go through at 6am in the morning, they

are ready to go as soon as the sun comes up and if the inspection station isn’t open, they will pass it by. Ms.

Juby said if they were to make inspections mandatory, they would like to eventually have a gate that would

be coded which the fisherman would get a code from the inspection team, and as long as they plan their

inspection, they would be able to launch at 5am if they want to. If you look at Tahoe, they have strict hours

and people must plan accordingly, then they have a wire seal where they can launch whenever they want. If

they have their permit already, they put their inspection number on it and if they don’t they encourage

them to get it right there on the spot.

Councilmember Dunn asked if they would be accommodating the fisherman when they come in before

sunrise. They could rent lights like they do for Burning Man. Ms. Juby said it’s a safety issue for them to be

out there, it’s dark and an hour before sunrise is 3am. Mr. Jackson added they are grant funded and they

don’t get overtime, so the earlier they open, the earlier they close. Councilmember Dunn said it would be

helpful if they posted their hours. Ms. Juby said they don’t post their hours because it’s not mandatory.

Since the gold mussels were discovered in California, they do get phone calls from people that have been in

the delt who say they are coming to Pyramid Lake, what time are they open so they can get inspected. They

are seeing an increase in boaters from the delta because of the closures in California but they do reach out

to them and try to do the right thing, specifically the anglers.

Mr. Jackson said when they first presented before the Council in December asking permission to close

Popcorn beach to launch, he provided a distribution map of the golden mussel occurrences that were

known. They were originally discovered using artificial substrate samplers which is their current sampling

method and are effective to the golden mussel. The mussels were originally discovered in late October and

with a current map, it shows the distribution is much larger and is spreading throughout the Bay Area

through the California aqueduct. The first they presented there were a dozen lakes that were either

changed regulations, instituted mandatory inspection programs, mandatory quarantines or just shut down

completely. Now that number from a dozen is over 40 lakes in California that have instituted mandatory

quarantines and mandatory inspection programs. There are a lot of other lakes doing it as well because

they recognize how harmful this species could be should it get established in their lakes and do it on less

resources.

Randa Mitchell, in the audience, asked for more information on the seal. Ms. Juby said it hooks up to the

trailer and the boat, if they launch it breaks and there is no way to reconnect it. Tahoe uses them to reseal

boats, after an inspection they get sealed, they go to launch, an inspector checks the seal and ifit’s still

intact they are allowed to launch. The inspection station would check the seals and if they are good, they

will get a receipt which gets entered into the system and they get a code to launch. At the end of the day, if

they show the valid permit, they would reseal them at the station so when they come back, it will expedite

their inspection. If this is passed they will make it happen with the personnel they have, they have two

additional technicians that have applied who look promising for hire and they will be able to increase hours

and will be able cross train within the department in case of emergencies, sick calls or for anyone to fill in

from the department.

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Chairman Wadsworth asked of all these other areas that boats are launching from, do they know the times

they are allowed to be on those waters. Ms. Juby said it varies among the waters. Some may have moors

that boats can stay on, others might have hours where they must come off the water. Chairman Wadsworth

said because the Council are the ones that have to make these decisions, it might be worth noting that if we

need to change the boat launch times, it might be an idea because with one Ranger, enforcement is the

biggest issue and they might have to adjust those times to sunrise because right now they are catering to

their clientele when they should be catering to the lake and keeping the lake is their primary purpose.

Councilmember Davis would like to see a workshop or a sit down with the PL Fisheries, the Rangers and

the Natural Resources and anyone else involved so everyone can comment. Ms. Mitchell said it would have

to be soon since she would need at least a month for printing, and the cost of the changes will increase but

it will depend on what is approved and the changes to be made. Preferably before September 1, 2025, for

print or else it won't go to print Vice Chairman Ely asked if they don’t make the changes before September

1st, is it set in stone they can’t change them in the middle of the season. He doesn’t see it, they do it at Tahoe,

if they make changes to their regulations and people don’t like it, then they don’t show up. We can print

them when we're ready to print. It was done when they closed Popcorn Beach in December when they

closed the boat launch but not the fishing. And he agrees with Councilmember Davis that sometimes the left

doesn’t know what the right is doing, and they are all trying to deal with the same concern including

enforcement. He’s asked the Ranger at one time how many citations were written for a bota that wasn’t

inspected, and the answer was, “I’m not trained in inspecting,” which wasn’t what he asked. If they don’t

have an inspection, then they should be cited. All departments need to get together before they approve

this.

Councilmember Decker asked if they could temporarily shut down that area that is requested for this

upcoming season to see how it goes. At least the area will be protected for all the boats that are going by

their station and not getting checked and they aren’t taking a risk, then they publicly put it on their social

media pages and do more outreach. He is comfortable with that, and they don’t have to worry about this

season. Ms. Juby said it creates enforcement as well because you can’t know that boats aren’t going past

that imaginary boundary and who is going to tell them not to, and then at that point, it’s too late because if

they have golden mussels on board or other invasive species, then they’re already there and it doesn’t

matter that they get cited $250 fine, the damage is already done. To make inspections mandatory, there will

still be people that will try to launch from the beaches and launch without the inspection but there are

ways to track those boaters and they would work with the Rangers and beach monitors to make sure

everybody knows how to look for either their inspection receipt, which they tell them to leave on their dash

and they also have a WID app that stores all the information electronically where they can search their

registration or their vehicle/trailer plate to wee whether they have been inspected. If they don’t have one,

then they can be cited.

Councilmember Davis asked if this had to go to the Law-and-Order Committee because you would have to

change the code to increase those fees, correct? Chairman Wadsworth said they are not changing the fine

schedule, just increasing the permit costs.

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Without knowing the Ranger Supervisor’s schedule (only one Ranger) and with Burning Man occurring at

the same time, not sure what his schedule would be. Councilmember Davis agreed with Vice Chairman Ely’s

comment about instead of rushing to change, get the information to all parties and have a sit down so

everyone is in agreement.

Councilmember Cortez asked if that is the case, could they pass everything that isn’t involving the issues

discussed and then work on the boating sections with the parties involved because the other sections are

the drones and the permit fees.

Ms. Mitchell reminded the Council that if they are going to approve changes they should do it all at once

because that is where we get our savings, they typically order 16 boxes at a time, the books are only given

out at the AIS station, the Ranger Station, the Museum and Tribal Admin. Ms. Juby asked if they would be

able to provide a digital copy on October 1st and then have physical print later if the mandatory inspections

get approved. Ms. Mitchell said the fisherman will be looking at the regulations because if they get cited,

they will go to the judge, and he will be looking for the brochure. Ms. Juby said they ran out of physical

copies of last season and the Ranger Station refused to give them more but it’s also online.

Councilmember Cortez motioned to table for a workshop with Rangers, Natural Resources, Pyramid Lake

Fisheries, and others who should attend.

Councilmember Davis said they could just table and the Chairman can coordinate a meeting dependent on

the Ranger Supervisor's schedule.

Councilmember Davis seconded the motion. Votes were eight (8) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0)

abstentions. MOTION PASSED. Chairman Wadsworth will contact the departments.

NATURAL RESOURCES. Donna Noel, Natural Resources (NR) Director

1. Request for Approval Inter-Disciplinary Team Request Streetsfilms Video Request. Johannes

Meier and Paul Hartmann

Councilmember Cortez asked if there were comments from the IDT since the comments were not attached

to the report. Ms. Noel said it was approved by the IDT, but the main comments were about who would he

be talking to and where did he plan on filming. Billie Jean Guerrero, Museum Director, has some ideas for

him along with stipulations about filming in public areas. Councilmember Cortez asked if there were any

comments regarding a waiver of the fee. Chairman Wadsworth said he didn’t recall any comments about

the waiver.

Mr. Meier and Mr. Hartmann were on zoom from Germany. Mr. Meier explained they are producing a show

called Nevada, the True Wild West, a 52-minute piece for ARTE, a European Cultural Broadcaster,

documenting exploring Nevada beyond cliches, focusing on heritage and resilience. The central part of the

film will be Pyramid Lake and the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe. They wish to portray the Tribe’s living

relationship with the lake, from fishing traditions to the Lahontan Cutthroat Trout, to the connection

between culture, identity and environment. They plan to film respectfully with Tribal members, ideally

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following one or two voices as they fish and share stories of community and daily life. They are a small

crew of three to four people with minimal equipment, filming for four to five days, as this is a noncommercial, educational public television production, and are requesting a waiver of the filming fees. They

are committed to following all Tribal protocols, giving credit, and sharing a preview of the same segment

before broadcast.

Mr. Hartman explained they reached out to the Museum Director via email and talked to Ms. Guerrero on

the phone to discuss the kind of people they could include in the documentary, and she came up with some

ideas. They are hoping to have a fishing guide as part of the story and a traditional leader or spiritual

leader. They have reached out to Dean Barlese.

Councilmember Dun recommended including someone from the PL Fisheries as part of this project for a

perspective from modern times to provide a history and how they are providing for the fish in the lake.

Vice Chairman Ely asked if this would be for profit. Mr. Meier said the broadcaster asked them to do the

film; they are not making a profit but are getting paid to make this program and travel here to film.

Chairman Wadsworth said their program is something like our version of PBS.

Councilmember Dunn motioned to approve the film request to include a waiving the film fee. Councilmember

John seconded the motion. Votes were eight (8) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions.

2. Request for Approval Submission of Quagga and Zebra Mussel Prevention and Monitoring with

Resolution. Adrienne Juby and Justin Jackson, AIS

With no further discussion, the following motion was made.

Councilmember Cortez motioned to approve submission of the Quagga and Zebra Mussel Prevention and

Monitoring with Resolution. Councilmember Decker seconded the motion. Votes were eight (8) for and zero

(0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED. RESOLUTION NO.: PL XXX-25 QUAGGA AND

ZEBRA MUSSEL PREVENTION AND MONITORING GRANT

Chairman Wadsworth stepped out of chambers at 7:57 p.m. Vice Chairman Ely assumed control of the

meeting.

3. Request for Approval Submission of BIA Attorney Fee Grant with Resolution. Donna Noel, NR Director

With no further discussion, the following motion was made.

Councilmember Guerrero motioned to approve the submission of the BIA Attorney Fee grant with Resolution.

Councilmember Davis seconded the motion. Votes were seven (7) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0)

abstentions. MOTION PASSED. RESOLUTION NO.: PL OXX-25 BIA ATTORNEY FEE GRANT

WATER TEAM

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1. Kemp Jones. Chris Mixson, Kemp Jones

Mr. Mixson requested an Executive Session for a discussion on CEMEX and the Atrium Apartments.

Chairman Wadsworth returned to Council chambers at 7:58 p.m.

TROA “NAVY WATER’ LITIGATION. Mr. Mixson said they are still working on the settlement agreement

with the Department of Justice (DOJ) for the split of the Navy water 80/20 as approved by the Council in

concept at the end of last year. As discussed before, there have been some mapping discrepancies with the

Navy water parcels of land that were previously irrigated, and Mr. Richards shop has been working on

some of their own mapping. They have discussed it with the Bureau of Reclamations (BOR) and are still in

those discussions. They are hoping to put some of the burden of resolving the mapping discrepancies on

the BOR and TCID. There is no reason for Stetson Engineers to spend the time and resources to do the

mapping exercise.

CEMEX. The Council received the presentation from Mr. Cutter, CEMEX earlier, further discussion in

Executive Session.

FEDERAL WATER MASTER/TROA ADMINISTRATOR. There was motion filed by a water rights owner in

the Carson River Basin who owns surface water, and they are upset with the Watermaster and filed a

motion to have the two deputies Watermasters disqualified because they think the Watermaster is being

biased against them. It’s a neighbor dispute, two ranchettes in Carson Valley which used to be one big

ranch, but they subdivided it by building homes in 30 acres, and they still want to irrigate, and they are

having a ditch dispute. They are unhappy with the Carson Watermaster who is the same person on the

Truckee River, his name is Chad Blanchard for the Orr Ditch Decree on the Truckee and the Alpine decree

on the Carson River. He has a deputy Watermaster, his name is Dave Watson. They work with them closely

and have a pretty good relationship with them. There is a separate additional deputy Watermaster on the

Carson River named Wilcox (last name). He doesn’t expect this person to be successful; he read the motion

and doesn’t think there is any actual bias. They don’t show anything to demonstrate bias other than not

getting what they want. The Tribe is not a party because they don’t own any Carson River decreed water

rights. He would like to see if the Tribe could file a letter to Judge Du in support of the Watermaster, Dave

Waffen, the deputy Watermaster who they work with very closely and have a good relationship with. He

doesn’t it would need an approval of the Council but if they decide to do that, he could work with the

Chairman on whether to file a letter.

TROA JOINT PROGRAM FISH CREDIT WATER. No update but he is still working with the California

Department of Water Resources staff attorney on developing a formal written guidelines for how the State

of California will manage their joint program fish credit water which is carved from the Tribe’s fish credit

water. They had hoped to have a draft ready, but they are still going through red lines. Hopefully, they will

have something for approval by the end of this year.

ATRIUM APARTMENTS. He will discuss it more in Executive Session, but they are shifting the focus in

terms of the legal research for potential legal claims. The State has made a formal finding of alleged

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violation; there are two of them which is included in the Council’s packet. One is directed at the City of

Sparks, and the other is directed at the owner of the Atrium Apartments. The findings of alleged violations

are formal factual findings that NDEP is making, laying out what they know about the violation and then

issuing an order that says here are the steps they want them to take. The order directs them by close of

business on August 21st to provide an explanation of any additional factors and failures that occur that have

not already been provided to the district and to provide the economic benefit, if any realized by not

complying with the relevant statutes about this discharge. The economic benefit must include any savings

realized from failure to assess the full extent of the storm sewer lines impacted by the discharge of the

waste. This means, by reading between the lines, they’re telegraphing they will be fined based on what the

economic benefit to them was by not complying with the law. Also, by close of business they are to provide

a plan for a study to be conducted to identify and describe environmental impacts resulting from the

discharge and a plan for how they are going to prevent this from happening in the future. There were more

requirements but skipping to the last one, by close of business August 215 they are to coordinate an

informal administrative meeting with NDEP to show why NDEP should not seek civil penalties against

them. If they want to appeal to the State Environmental Commission, then that will start a more formal

trial. They have a meeting with NDEP on September 4, 2025, to go over the findings and order. This is the

state side of proceedings, if the Council wants to talk about the Tribe’s legal options they will discuss in

Executive Session.

Councilmember John said she saw a news article where CEMEX was fined. Was that the $2 million fine and

they decreased it to $370,000? Mr. Mixson said yes it was. It’s all upstream, CEMEX and EPA asked the

Tribe if they wanted to do a supplemental environmental Project, it went through the motions, but they

couldn’t find anything that was going to work because of the limitations that EPA put on it. So, they went

upstream and found somebody, in theory it’ll help Pyramid Lake but it’s not going to directly benefit

Pyramid Lake, it’s going to be a wetlands project upstream.

2. Stetson Engineers Inc. Allan Ricards, Stetson Engineers Inc.

Mr. Richards report covers the month of July 2025.

ANALYSES OF POTENTIAL STREAMFLOW CAPTURE BY PUMPING WELLS. In the interest of time, Mr.

Richards is only providing an update on this item. Mr. Richards had this discussion with the Council at the

last water meeting regarding one well that the City of Fernley pumps water from. They did an analysis on

the City of Fernley’s well number 13 and have estimated that pumping from that well is capturing stream

flow of the Truckee River. They have been doing this analysis for a while looking at the effects of pumping

wells upstream from the Reservation all the way to the State line on the Truckee River including Steamboat

Creek. They are also doing an analysis of pumping wells along the Carson River. A map titled “Potential

Capture of Surface Water rights by Groundwater Pumping,” was taken directly from a report the Nevada

Division of Water Resources put out in 2023, the full report is included for the Council. A map of the

different basins identified by the Nevada State Engineer’s office, the color-coded map shows the different

levels of potential capture of surface water rights by groundwater pumping. The map shows the Truckee

River upstream from Pyramid Lake and the Carson River upstream from Lahontan, to include the subbasins boundaries and numbers. Up the river from the Reservation’s boundary there is basin 83, 87, 91 and

then 88 and 89 near Washoe Lake. These sites are red which signifies the State’s determination, about

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3,000-acre feet of surface water is being captured by pumping wells within one mile of the Truckee River

and one mile within Steamboat Creek. The same is true with the Carson River Basin. This is just a portion of

the State’s map, they looked at the entire State of Nevada the same way, basin by basin and the potential for

groundwater pumping to be capturing surface water rights. They are specifically looking at decree water

rights. For the Truckee River, the pumping wells are capturing Orr Ditch Decreee surface water and in the

Carson River, they are capturing Alpine Decree surface water. This is all included in the 2023 report and

encourages the Council to read this report which covers various maps and analysis on wells. Stetson is

focusing on the map that shows potential capture of surface water by groundwater pumping. They

downloaded well records from the State Engineer’s office and plotted all the wells within a one-mile buffer

of those streams. In the Truckee River Basin, they are looking at a large number of the wells on the basin

that are owned and operated by TMWA and Washoe County. They are also looking at the Tahoe Reno

Industrial Park General Improvement District and the wells on the Carson River, a large number owned and

operated by Gardnerville Ranchos General Improvement District, Silver Springs Mutual Water Company

and Gardnerville Town Water Company where the results are the same as the analysis they did on the City

of Fernley’s well. They are capturing about 50% of the water pumped from those wells over a two-year

period is surface water from the Truckee River, Steamboat Creek, or the Carson River. It’s a significant

proportion of the well water that is river water being captured by those wells.

Chairman Wadsworth said this is new territory but this something the Council and the Water Team have

looked at, but they are now just getting the scientific facts on it. Vice Chairman Ely thinks all along they

knew they were pulling surface water. Chairman Wadsworth added if you're pumping out of the ground,

how is it being refilled. The only water source in the area is the river.

Mr. Richards said the Truckee River system is different from the other river systems because it is fed by

large amounts of snowmelt runoff. Stetson Engineers has been working for the San Carlos Apache Tribe in

Arizona for as long as they been working for the Tribe. They have the same issue but have no snow melt or

upstream reservoirs and their river gets depleted to almost nothing after the farmers upstream diverts the

water into the canal systems or turn on their wells.

Chairman Wadsworth said in regard to next steps, they shut them down for a week, no pumping to see

what happens.

Mr. Richards said they will use the analysis, the State Zone analysis, on any new appropriations that are

filed for groundwater. Years ago, they were looking at the Carson River system and protesting every change

application that was filed in the Carson River for groundwater, whether new or a change application. They

were just blanket-protesting all of them. At the time, the State didn’t recognize or refused to recognize

there was a connection between groundwater pumping and the river flow. That was 15 years ago and now

the State recognizes it. They’re publishing items like this so the Water Team can use it to keep track of all

new appropriations or transfer applications involving groundwater wells within a one-mile buffer of the

stream and use them on a strong basis to have those denied. It would be beneficial to have a groundwater

model built for the Truckee River. The USGS and DRI have done a lot of groundwater modeling for mod

flow and model grid but doesn’t think a groundwater model has ever been built for the Truckee River

above the Reservation. Mr. Mixson might even be able to do some legal analysis, but it feels like a door is

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being opened with the State maps using the title of potential capture of surface water rights by

groundwater pumping but they are being clever by not putting the wells on their maps of the buffer zone.

Luckily, the Water Team found the data they used to color their maps so they know who the well owners

are, how much they are allowed to pump and can analyze and estimate how significant those impacts are.

There may be some legal basis to go after some of those existing well pumpers. Vice Chairman Ely

commented they purposely didn’t create a groundwater model.

Councilmember John asked how the water importation projects that Nevada has created are going to

impact groundwater. Would it show up on these types of maps? For example, taking Eastern Nevada water

to Las Vegas and Washoe County to Reno.

Mr. Richards said TMWA’s project doesn’t have the potential to impact the Tribes water resources because

the basin they are doing that project in; there is another basin to the east and then there is the Pyramid

Lake Basin. There are a couple of basins in between and the impacts of their project will be small and with

their own basin.

3. Approval of changing the November Water Team Meeting date. Chairman Wadsworth said the

Water Team meeting is on November 17* and the Special Council meeting is on November 19*. However,

that is also NCAI and with the possibility of not having a quorum, he would like to move it to November

12th, the week prior, the day after Veterans Day.

Councilmember Dunn motioned to approve to reschedule the November 17, 2025, Water Team meeting to

November 12, 2025. Vice Chairman Ely seconded the motion. Votes were eight (8) for and zero (0) opposed

with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED

EXECUTIVE SESSION

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

Votes were eight (8) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED. Tribal Council

moved into Executive Session at 8:36 p.m.

Vice Chairman Ely motioned to move out of Executive Session. Councilmember Dunn seconded the motion.

Votes were eight (8) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED. Tribal Council

moved out of Executive Session at 9:09 p.m.

After discussion in Executive Session the Council made the following motion.

Councilmember Cortez motioned to approve the revised Pond A Restoration Plan. Councilmember Davis

seconded the motion. Votes were eight (8) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION

PASSED

Councilmember Guerrero commented on trucks using the roadway on the Reservation line behind his house,

there was a semi carrying a conveyor belt which might have been pulled in by the road by CEMEX. They are

utilizing the road. Councilmember Wadsworth said they don’t have a right of way, and they can do the same

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thing which occurred at Olinghouse. Chairman Wadsworth said he has signs in his office and will have

maintenance go out there to post. Councilmember Davis said when that happened at Olinghouse Road, the

Chairman had equipment brought down and shut the road down, they blocked it with equipment.

ADJOURNMENT

With no further business before the Tribal Council, Councilmember Cortez made a motion to adjourn the

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

The meeting adjourned at 9:14 p.m.

Submitted by,

FAW feu.

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 177# day of September 2025, having eight (8) members

present, constituting a quorum, by the vote of six (6) FOR and zero (0) OPPOSED, with one (1)

ABSTENTIONS.

Minutes attested and concurred by: LZ vA

Steven Wadsworth, Tribal Chairman

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

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