The Environmental Protection Agency urged California water regulators to protect tribal cultural practices in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta, the troubled heart of the state’s water supply. Comments to the State Water Resources Control Board by EPA regional administrator Martha Guzman at a hearing Tuesday marked rare federal intervention into state water politics as regulators weigh options to regulate how much water stays in the estuary. … Guzman also challenged a proposal spearheaded by Gov. Gavin Newsom to let water users voluntarily cut back on their use with limited oversight. The Bay-Delta watershed is crucial to California’s water supply, which supports agricultural, urban, and ecological needs. But it is facing an ecological crisis as water quality and river flows drop and some species dwindle.

Other tribal water issues articles:

• KUNR (Greeley, Colo.): USDA funding to help tribal farmers use less water amid climate-driven drought
• The Story Exchange: Helping the Karuk Tribe in California prepare for climate challenges