Public service is about doing the right thing. What happens when government agencies charged with protecting the public fail? Someone else has to step in and lead.

That’s exactly what happened last week as my tribe, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, filed suit to protect the water future of the Coachella Valley.

What’s important here is not just what our tribe has done but why. We made every attempt to work with the Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD) and the Desert Water Agency (DWA) to protect the quantity and the quality of water in the local aquifer. For more than a decade, we urged them to stop the overdrafting of the aquifer and protect the quality of the water. We presented common-sense alternatives to address these water issues. They refused to listen, failed to act and left us with no other choice.