Collaborating with Tribal Nations for Sustainable Water Management

Project Overview

Tribal nations may experience a number of water-related challenges, which can have profound impacts on wellbeing:

  • Impaired water quality and pollution
  • Inadequate water quantity, storage, or distribution
  • Negative infrastructure impacts to culturally important landscapes, sites or species
  • Lack of connectivity or access for humans and other species

There are 574 federally recognized Native American tribes across what is now known as the United States. Due to historical and ongoing exclusion, Tribal Nations often do not have control of decision making processes for natural resource infrastructure, even on Tribal land. By collaborating with Tribes across the country, this collaborative effort from UGA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers aims to manage water resources more holistically and equitably.

objective: provide guidelines to help usace and tribal staff build collaborations for water resource projects

our steps to successful collaboration

Assess
  • Knowledge: of the landscape, history, cultural norms, Tribal laws and government structures.
  • Intentions: openness to other worldviews and knowledge systems.
  • Capacity: available time, funding, and resources.
Build
  • Relationships:
    • Start early. Reach out in anticipation of project development.
    • Build on existing networks. Tribal Liaisons and TNTCX can provide support.
    • Prioritize human connection. Engage in face-to-face meetings, share meals, and attend events.
    • Practice humility. Approach partnerships with patience, openness, and respect.
  • Mutual Understanding:
    • Co-establish communication and decision-making processes. Be responsive to varying needs, obligations, sensitivities, and seasonal timelines. Identify points of contact and responsibilities.
    • Address histories and constraints while developing shared visions. Give space to learn from past experiences, fraught histories, and former successes.
    • Understand Tribal goals and USACE authorities. Consider projects within a broader context of the Tribe’s long-term vision and workforce development, and agency dynamics.
    • Adhere to cultural protocols. Be aware of norms like allowing Tribal elders and USACE leaders to speak first, opening meetings with blessings, etc.
    • Weave knowledges. Respect the contributions of Native science and maintain Tribal data sovereignty.
Sustain
  • Commitment & Celebration:
    • Be consistent and reliable. Maintain transparency and follow through on commitments.
    • Celebrate achievements together. Acknowledge each other’s contributions.
  • Memorialize Progress:
    • Develop mechanisms for continued contact. Cement organizational relationships through MOUs, annual meetings, etc., which persist beyond personnel turnover.
    • Preserve institutional memory. Develop strategies to document and share information like archives, succession plans, and mentoring or onboarding programs.
  • Prepare & Adapt to Change:
    • Document partnership norms and knowledge. Keep records of project histories, personnel, expectations, and responsibilities to easily pass on information.
    • Revisit collaboration needs. Make time to assess and refine procedures and react to changes.

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