In 1992, Congress passed the Indian Environmental General Assistance Program Act (42 U.S.C. 4368b) which authorizes EPA to provide General Assistance Program (GAP) grants to federally-recognized tribes and tribal consortia for planning, developing, and establishing environmental protection programs in Indian country, as well as for developing and implementing solid and hazardous waste programs on tribal lands.

The goal of this program is to assist tribes in developing the capacity to manage their own environmental protection programs, and to develop and implement solid and hazardous waste programs in accordance with individual tribal needs and applicable federal laws and regulations.

Through our GAP grant we , prioritizing on recycling with an Environmental Education Program that is working in conjunction with the Wyandotte Public Schools as a mentoring program for Jr High and High School Students.  We also use “RENIE (Recycling Environmental Needs In Education),” the Recycle Robot. “RENIE” is a visual aid with curriculum to help children in learning the importance of recycling.

Thru our water EPA 106 Grant, department staff monitors 6 ambient water sites on a monthly basis. They are Neosho and Spring Rivers at Twin Bridges, three Lost Creek sites, and two Sycamore Creek sites. All data collected is uploaded to an EPA Data Base. In 2014 our department purchased and deployed a stationary continuous water EXO – 2Sonde that records real time data on a 24/7 time frame.  This data is then uploaded to the Storm Central data base.

The department continues to monitor the Tribal Water System through monthly, annual, three-year and six-year tests to make sure it complies with all regulatory standards of the EPA, with which our tribal well is permitted. Private well bacteria and heavy metals testing is an ongoing resource that is provided free of charge to tribal members within a 50-mile radius of the Wyandotte Nation.

Congress amended the Clean Water Act (CWA) in 1987 to establish the section 319 Nonpoint Source Management Program because it recognized the need for greater federal leadership to help focus State and local nonpoint source efforts. Under section 319, States, Territories, and Indian Tribes receive grant money which supports a wide variety of activities including technical assistance, financial assistance, education, training, technology transfer, demonstration projects, and monitoring to assess the success of specific nonpoint source implementation projects.

The Wyandotte Nation has prepared a Nonpoint Source Management Plan in conjunction with Tribal Environmental Management Services in order to address the environmental degradation caused by the nonpoint sources (NPS) of pollution identified in the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma Nonpoint Source Assessment.  The overall goal of this Management Plan is to improve water quality on Wyandotte lands.  Specifically, the Wyandotte Environmental Department and the Wyandotte Tribal Council would like to ensure that all water sources on tribal lands meet the water quality standards for their designated uses.  The Neosho River, Spring River, Sycamore Creek, Lost Creek, and Brush Creek are the primary water sources on Wyandotte jurisdictional lands and will be the major focus of restoration efforts.  The primary long term objective of the Tribe is to ensure that these water sources are restored to high quality cold/warm water aquatic community standards, depending on the designation of the water source.  This NPS Management Plan will greatly help the Wyandotte Environmental Department in achieving this goal.

The Environmental Department monitors surface water quality within Wyandotte Nation’s historical jurisdiction. Non-Point Source pollution is water pollution affecting a water body from diffuse sources, such as polluted runoff from agricultural areas and is a major cause of water quality issues in our area.

In 2011 -12 Fiscal Year we added Septic System Assessments and Replacement of failing systems.  If you would like to have your system assessed and live within the Grand Lake Watershed, please contact our department.

Principle types of NPS pollution:

Sediment – Caused by eroding stream banks and improper plant cover. Lowers light penetration which can inhibit aquatic plant growth which can affect fish that are dependent on them.

Control – Farmers can both retain their valuable soil and prevent water pollution by utilizing techniques such as contour plowing, crop mulching, crop rotation, planting perennial crops and installing riparian buffers.

Nutrients – Excess Nitrogen & Phosphorus applied as fertilizers. Lowers oxygen levels in the water, harming or killing fish. Farmers can implement plans to reduce excess application of nutrients.

Pathogens – Contaminate runoff from poorly-managed livestock operations, pet waste and faulty septic systems.