Tribal Nation Coordination
Park County Archaeology and History
Park County, Colorado—the location for the proposed Wild Horse Reservoir Project—has a rich archaeological record as multiple Native American tribes resided in and visited the area for millennia. As part of the pre-permitting process, Aurora Water funded a complete ethnographic survey to capture the history of all the tribes in the South Park area, as well as conducted archaeological surveys to identify archeological sites and historic properties in the vicinity of the project.
Given the history of the area, the surveys identified archaeological sites and historic properties in the project area that were eligible to be included in the National Register for Historic Places (NRHP). The project proposal has triggered the need for consultation under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA).
Working with Tribal Nations
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is the lead federal agency for the Section 106 process under the NHPA. This process includes coordinating with the Colorado State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and multiple tribal nations on evaluating the effects of the proposed project to archaeological sites and historic properties on land with federal mineral estate. Because some of the land and mineral estate for this project are privately owned, Aurora Water has been consulting directly with tribal nations on impacts to archeological sites and historic properties that do not fall within BLM’s responsibilities under the NHPA.
Aurora Water is committed to honoring the peoples and tribes that called South Park home and is actively coordinating with BLM and tribal nations on avoidance and mitigation measures to minimize the project’s impact on archaeological sites and historically significant lands. These efforts include:
- Funding a full ethnographic study of the area to capture the history of tribes who lived in and visited the South Park area. This included soliciting and collecting information from both Tribal Historic Preservation Officers (THPOs) and tribal elders over the past year and a half.
- Inviting 19 different regional tribes to provide input for possible mitigations and to monitor ground-disturbing activities associated with ongoing geotechnical exploration activities needed for project design.
- Coordinating with several tribes to conduct on-site monitoring of geotechnical exploration activities.
- Working with third-party archaeologists to conduct a 100% Class III archaeological ground survey of the entire project area including shovel testing prior to geotechnical subsurface explorations.
- Ensuring that third-party archaeologists and/or tribal representatives are actively monitoring all ground-disturbing activities on private lands to ensure that identified archaeological artifacts are not disturbed and to evaluate any discoveries made during subsurface geotechnical exploration activities.
- Moving ongoing and future geotechnical exploration and ground-disturbing activities whenever possible to avoid archaeological artifacts identified within the project area.
- Developing and implementing an “Unidentified Discoveries Plan” to ensure proper evaluation of any artifacts discovered during geotechnical or subsurface explorations.
- Working on a Programmatic Agreement and Historical Properties Treatment Plan in coordination with BLM, the Colorado SHPO, tribal nations, and other partners to identify the best path forward for artifacts identified during project construction.
- Ensuring that all processes and procedures regarding locations and records of sites are followed to prevent archaeological artifacts from being removed from sites.
- Collaborating with state, tribal, and local entities in reviews and consultations related to archaeological sites and historic properties.
Questions
If you have any questions about tribal nation coordination related to this project, please email us at WildHorseReservoir@auroragov.org.
