Half the battle is knowing how.
In 2017 training sessions led by the High Plains Regional Climate Center, the National Drought Mitigation Center provided training and technical assistance in conducting climate vulnerability assessments for the Rosebud Sioux, Oglala Sioux, Standing Rock Sioux and Flandreau Santee Sioux tribes in South Dakota.
Project partners included the Great Plains Tribal Water Alliance; Louis Berger, an engineering company; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Integrated Drought Information System; the High Plains Regional Climate Center; South Dakota State University; and the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.
Together, they have:
- Provided training on how to conduct climate vulnerability assessments;
- Assessed climate vulnerabilities in tribal water sectors; and
- Helped each tribe monitor and communicate short- and long-term climate and related impact information through the development of quarterly climate summaries.
Still to come is the development of a water resources vulnerability assessment training guidebook for tribal managers.
The GPTWA is an advisory committee to the Great Plains Tribal Chairman’s Association on technical and policy issues regarding the water resources of its member tribes. It facilitated the project with funding provided by the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Tribal Climate Resilience Program.
The project is scheduled for completion in fall 2018.