CHAPTER 30 SURFACE WATER AND GROUND WATER PROTECTION
Section 30-1 Purpose and Authority
30-1.01 Purpose. It is the legislative intent and purpose of the Spokane Business Tribal Council in enacting
this Chapter:
(a) To protect and preserve the quantities of Reservation surface and ground waters necessary to
satisfy the needs of the Spokane Indian Reservation as the permanent homeland of the Spokane
Tribe of Indians;
(b) To promote the health, safety, welfare, and economic well-being of the Spokane Tribe, its
people, and all the residents of the Spokane Indian Reservation;
(c) To restore, maintain and protect the chemical, physical, biological, and cultural integrity of the
surface and ground waters of the Spokane Indian Reservation;
(d) To achieve a level of water quality that provides for the protection and propagation of fish and
wildlife, for recreation in and on the water, and for all uses of the water existing at the time of
this chapter’s enactment and for other uses designated pursuant to this chapter;
(e) To promote the holistic watershed approach to management of the Reservation’s water, and
(f) To provide for the protection of threatened and endangered species.
Legislative History-Enacted 7/31/98, Resolu. 98-213; Readopted 8/01/06, Resolu. 2006-524.
30-1.02 Jurisdiction. This chapter shall apply to all persons and conduct on all lands and water areas within
the exterior boundaries of the Spokane Reservation, and any exertions thereof, and all Spokane Tribal and
allotted Indian lands and waters outside the exterior boundaries of the Spokane Indian Reservation, as well
as those lands that fulfill the definition of “Indian Country” as defined in 18 U.S.C. Section 1151.
30-1.03 Water Quality Standards.
(a) The Spokane Tribal Council has adopted Water Quality Standards for lands and waters under the
jurisdiction of the Tribe.
(b) The current version shall be available at the Spokane Department of Natural Resources and the
office of the Legal Revisor as established pursuant to Section 1-12 of the Spokane Law and
Order Code.
Section 30-2 Clean Water Act § 401 Certification
30-2.01 Legislative History.
(a) Water is, and has been, central to the culture, religion, subsistence and way of life of the
Spokane Tribe of Indians since time immemorial.
(b) Much of the Tribe’s language is based upon water.
(c) Unwritten laws of the Tribe have controlled use of water for thousands of years.
(d) Waters arising on the Reservation are still generally in pristine conditions because of the
importance that the Tribe has placed on their protection, and the resulting actions that the Tribe
has taken, including the adoption of integrated resource management plans that are among the
most advanced in the world.
(e) Unfortunately, not all waters running through or bordering the Reservation arise on the
Reservation and some have significant water quality problems.
(f) Among the most significant are the waters in the Spokane River upon which the Tribe relies
heavily for its cultural and recreational uses.
(g) The Tribe has implemented an extensive water quality monitoring and testing program to deal
with increasingly difficult water quality problems.
(h) Since implementation of that program, the Tribe has identified key areas of the Reservation that
suffer from water quality problems.
232
Revised Spokane Law & Order Code, 5/14/2013