Friday November 10, 2023
Char-Koosta News —
The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) were awarded a grant of $1,634,507 from the Columbia River Basin Restoration Funding Assistance Program under the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). EPA funded projects focus on reducing toxics and impacts on human, fish, and wildlife health, as well as projects with an emphasis on climate change and adaptation. Toxics reduction supports climate resilience for the Columbia River Basin ecosystem by reducing aquatic ecosystem and human health stressors.
Funding from the grant will be used to make improvements to septic system infrastructure on the reservation. CSKT understands that water on the reservation is a valuable resource to all Tribal members. Work done on the project is expected to maintain and improve water quality for all tribal members and downstream users.
CSKT intends to locate and map septic tanks as well as gather information on the Flathead Reservation relating to septic systems. The Flathead Basin Commission developed a model to identify septic systems using local government records and permits. However, there is a lack of accurate records and permits of septic systems on the reservation. CSKT plans to organize outreach activities to gather information on septic system locations including the age of the systems to address the lack of accurate information.