… [L]onely as it may be, Mono [Lake] has revolutionized environmental law in California, the American West, and the U.S., bringing about important changes to water use and air quality regulations in recent decades and showing the way ahead for tribal resource rights today. … Now the Mono Basin could be part of making water history again. In 2017, California began using so-called Tribal Beneficial Uses (TBUs)—water quality standards keyed to protecting traditional tribal fisheries and cultural practices—as a way to incorporate long-ignored tribal needs into state environmental management. The first regional board to incorporate the definitions of TBUs into a watershed management plan was the Mono Basin, in 2020. 

Other tribal water news:

• Native News Online: Senate committee examines $5b water rights settlement for Navajo, Hopi, and Paiute tribes 
• Inside Climate News: Habitat loss is eroding tribal sovereignty
• Native News Online: Opinion: The road to personhood