After a historic hearing in spring 2024 to consider Tribal and public testimony related to the proposed designation of Tribal Beneficial Uses (TBU) for Mono Lake and its tributary streams, action to designate has been delayed.
The Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board had proposed an agenda item for their November 2024 board meeting to adopt TBU designations for Mono Lake and its tributary streams. That agenda item was canceled ahead of the meeting, but all indications are that TBU adoption remains a priority.
The Mono Lake Kootzaduka’a Tribe is the lead proponent of the applicable range of TBU designations for Mono Lake and its tributary streams. According to the Tribe, the legal standard that required consumption of 4.5 fish per week per person for a Tribal Subsistence Fishing TBU on Mono Basin tributary streams set an unrealistic and potentially unfair standard for Tribes in geographically diverse California that are located well-inland from north coast waters—where the Tribal Subsistence Fishing standard was established.
Therefore, the Tribal Subsistence Fishing TBU remained complicated for Lahontan to implement given the required criteria. This is a specific designation the Kootzaduka’a are hoping to achieve for Mono Basin tributary streams in addition to the TBU designations proposed for Mono Lake. The Tribe has communicated that the full range of TBU designations allowed in California are worth waiting for. A Tribal Cultural Values TBU was also proposed for Mono Basin streams and has an easier road to adoption.
According to the Tribe, Lahontan continues to meet while also consulting with the State Water Board in expectation of finding a pathway to a designation for tributary streams that will include subsistence fishing and support the Tribe’s specific traditional values reflected in the modern era of Mono Basin streams.
This post was also published as an article in the Winter & Spring 2025 Mono Lake Newsletter. Top photo by Elin Ljung.