Wyandotte Nation gets EPA grant to fight water pollution

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently awarded $33,000 to the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma to implement nonpoint source and watershed-based plans management programs to control polluted runoff.

“This grant provides support to Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma to achieve better protection and restoration of their water resources,” said Regional Administrator Anne Idsal. “Working with our state and tribal partners to address today’s water resource challenges using a watershed approach is the most effective framework to protect this valuable resource.”

“Thank you to the EPA for your partnership with Native Americans, to help keep our waters clean and healthy for our people,” said Wyandotte Nation Environmental Program Manager Kathleen Welch.  “Water is the life that flows through the veins of our Mother Earth to sustain her and her children.”

Nonpoint source pollution, unlike pollution from industrial and sewage treatment plants, comes from many sources and is caused by rainfall or snow melt moving over and through the ground. The runoff picks up and carries away natural and human-made pollutants, finally depositing them into lakes, rivers, wetlands, coastal waters, and even underground water sources.