CONFEDERATED TRIBES OF THE GOSHUTE RESERVATION

Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation
Historical Timeline and Background
& Water Management Capacity

16,000+ ybp  Goshutes relied on water resources throughout their Great Basin homelands.

12,300 ybp. Goshute ancestors left 88 footprints in the Bonneville basin that are still evident today, as both adults and children were walking in the shallow grey water.

1541+   Goshute territory was invaded by Spanish explorations and slave raiders.

1850+   Euroamerican colonization, westward expansion, and manifest destiny resulted taking over vast regions of fertile and water-rich areas of Goshute homelands. Goshutes were displaced, exterminated in genocidal acts, and forced onto a tiny fraction of their ancestral homelands where access to water resources was truncated in the process.   

1863     On October 12, 1863, the Goshutes signed the “Treaty with the Shoshoni-Goship at Tuilla Valley”. This was a so-called “treaty of peace and friendship,” In that treaty, Goshutes neither ceded territory nor the water resources therein.

1908     Supreme Court case Winters v. United States (Winters Doctrine) held that on the date the federal government created an Indian reservation along with it came an implied federal reserved water right to meet their needs and fulfil purposes of the reservation. 

1914     Goshute Reservation was created by Executive Order No. 1903, on March 23, 1914, totaling about 112.085 acres. The reservation is now about 112,870 acres.

2007     CTGR applied to the State of Utah for 50,000 afa water (17-217, A77473).

2009     Utah denied CTGR’s application (17-217, A77473) for water rights. A number of people, entities, and government agencies protested, including the Bureau of Land Management

2012     CTGR and State of Utah begin negotiations on CTGR’s federal reserved water rights.

2019     EPA Region 9 approved CTGR’s application for Treatment as State to administer the water quality standards program of CWA Section 303c. Goshutes have over 600 enrolled tribal members, with about 200 living on the Goshute Reservation.

2021     CTGR met with NV Governor to formally initiate the process of addressing CTGR’s federally reserved water rights.

2024     CTGR’s federal water rights remain unadjudicated. There are about 600 enrolled members, about 200 of whom live on the Goshute Reservation.

Water Management Priorities

CTGR has two main priorities for on-Reservation water resources. First, to ensure adequate access to and safety of drinking water for residential housing community. Second, to adjudicate and protect CTGR’s federal reserved water rights. As to the first, CTGR hopes to construct an additional water tank to increase water delivery capacity, while maintaining safe drinking water standards and updating existing water infrastructure as needed.

Existing Water-Related Capacity

CTGR has a small water resources program housed within its Environmental Department (aka EPA Department). There are two full time staff within the program. Their work is largely focused on water issues on the Goshute Reservation. They have one outside water consultant who helps with on-Reservation water issues.

Capacity-Building Needs and Interests

CTGR has a multitude of water-related needs and interests. First, they need to update and modernize their existing water system for the Reservation community, including needs for deeper wells, new wells, and new water tanks. Second, they need capacity to get their water rights adjudicated and move beyond the current and long-running impasse. Third, they need opportunities for additional water resource staff and a water department. Fourth, they need to ensure Tribal leadership is informed on what needs to be protected and how, and what’s going on off-Reservation that impacts CTGR so can make informed decisions on how to respond. Fifth, they need capacity to protect water for cultural purposes, and address drought and climate change. Sixth, CTGR needs opportunities for education, training, and collaborations on all water-related matters, recognizing the great benefit of working with others.