Jessica Cejnar Andrews / Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022 @ 12:58 p.m. / Local Government, Tribal Affairs
Yurok Tribe, KCSD Reach Agreement to Build New Water Tank in Klamath
Seal of the Yurok Tribe
Previously:
• Klamath Residents Issued Boil Water Warning In Response to CSD Drinking Water Act Violation
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The Yurok Tribe reached an agreement with the Klamath Community Services District to install a 125,000-gallon water tank on tribal property in Klamath.
The Yurok Tribe has also agreed to pay for the design and implementation of the tank installation through general fund and Indian Health Service grant dollars, according to a tribal news release Monday.
The permit will allow KCSD to construct the tank on tribal land, according to the news release. It will continue to own and operate the system, according to the tribe’s news release.
KCSD logo
“In addition to improving water security, the new tank will support the ongoing expansion of our tribe,” Tribal Chairman Joseph L. James said in a written statement. “Right now, we are in the middle of a major growth period. We are starting new businesses, creating jobs and building recreational facilities for all reservation residents. I would like to thank the Indian Health Service for investing in our community.”
The tribe has already completed engineering work for the tank installation and will send out a request for bids for the project, according to the news release.
This announcement comes about six months after the California State Water Control Board ordered KCSD to issue a boil-water advisory to its customers in response to violations of the California State Drinking Water Act.
The violations stemmed from the condition of a KCSD water storage tank that had been damaged when a dead tree fell on the roof in 2017. Though KCSD had temporarily fixed the tank, it hadn’t maintained or repaired it since, creating a “significant sanitary risk to the drinking water customers,” according to a July 23 news release from the Yurok Tribe, which cited the water control board.
That boil water notice was canceled on Dec. 9 with the KCSD stating that it, the State Water Resources Control Board and Division of Drinking water determined that, “through repairs of the water storage tank, comprehensive testing and monitoring of the water, your water is safe to drink.”
KCSD representatives could not be reached for further comment regarding the Yurok Tribe’s announcement Monday.
KCSD's Dec. 9 notice canceling the boil water advisory from July 23, 2021.
In September, KCSD board president Margaret Caldwell told the Outpost the district needed a utility easement or a land-use permit from the Yurok Tribe to repair the tank, which sits on tribal land.
“We have asked for a utility easement, asked for a land permit, but every one of them have come up with complications that the water district feels they cannot sign due to the stuff that’s in them,” Caldwell said.
The Klamath Community Services District is a special government district tasked with providing water and sewer service. KCSD serves about 64 customers, most of whom are in the Klamath Town Site.
However, due to a lack of capacity, it has been unable to accommodate additional hookups to its sewer system since 2006, Caldwell told the Outpost in September.
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