KPCC: North Fork Rancheria seeks long-term solutions for water

Governor Jerry Brown has outlined nearly $700 million in measures to respond to California's drought. The proposed legislation outlines funds to recapture and re-use storm water, increase conservation, and get relief to the hardest-hit areas, including 17 communities at risk of running out of drinking water in the coming months.

But one California Indian tribe is also trying to put the emphasis on long-term solutions, including focusing on where water is coming from and what can be done to better protect the state's watersheds, streams and meadows.

Much of the current tribal land of the North Fork Mono is forestland in the hills and mountains of the Sierras, home to important snowpack and rivers that feed the thirsty valley floor.

“When you’re trying to restore the water, you have to restore the land first so the land is functioning properly,” said Ron Goode, Tribal Chair for the North Fork Mono Tribe. “Most folks look at the river drainage as the watershed, but they don’t realize that the water comes from all over in the mountains.”