CAHUILLA RESERVATION, Calif. — U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District officials joined the Cahuilla Band of Indians for a Feasibility Cost Share Agreement signing ceremony Feb. 26, as part of an effort to restore the tribe’s hot springs.
Col. Andrew Baker, LA District commander, joined Erica Schenk, tribal council chairwoman for the Cahuilla Band of Indians, to sign the agreement as part of USACE’s Tribal Partnership Program.
The Cahuilla Hot Springs has been in use for the Cahuilla people for generations, serving as an important place for bathing, swimming and washing clothes, as well as fulfilling medicinal, cultural and spiritual purposes.
More recently, degradation of the ecosystem and the surrounding structure has begun to take its toll on the site, presenting safety risks, loss of habitat, water quality issues and even impairment of the circulation, drainage and overall function of the hot spring as a dynamic, living, breathing system.
Schenk said the location was upgraded about 15 years ago, which she said was the tribe’s first step in restoring it. In 2021, the tribe reached out to USACE for assistance. USACE’s Tribal Partnership Program turned out to be the best vehicle to find the right solution for the tribe.
“It’s been a couple of years to get this process moving, and it’s taken a lot of collaboration to get to where we are now,” Schenk said. “We’re happy that we’re in a good place and ready to move forward with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the tribe.”
Danielle Storey, project manager and Tribal Partnership Program co-manager for the LA District, said this is the district’s first TTP project in California, “which is really exciting,” she added.
“These are incredibly important natural hot springs,” Storey said. “Water is incredibly important to the Cahuilla. It’s incredibly important to desert peoples in general, but it’s both spiritually and culturally significant. It’s also been a social, cohesive gathering place.”
For the TPP study, Storey said the LA District will be reviewing a range of alternative configurations for the project, with each accomplishing the overarching goals the tribe has for it: restoration, continued use and bringing back plants that are both good for the local habitat but also important to the tribe.
“There’s going to be a lot more public outreach with the Cahuilla Cultural Committee and vetting ideas on what it is they want to see as their traditional cultural property,” she said. “It has to be restored in a way that’s meaningful to them.”
Michelle Salgado, chairwoman of the Cahuilla Cultural Committee, said she’s pleased USACE and the Cahuilla are now at this point in the journey together.
“It’s very exciting,” said Salgado, who had with tears in her eyes. “It’s heartwarming.”