The Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians and Cabazon Band of Mission Indians partnered to form a Coachella Valley Tribal Air Monitoring Cooperative. They recently held an opening ceremony and ribbon cutting for the air monitoring station located near Eagle Falls Golf Course in Indio.
The air monitoring station is the first of its kind in the Coachella Valley and uses the latest technology to measure air quality, more specifically particulate matter and ozone levels.
According to the Air Quality Management District (AQMD), the Coachella Valley experiences some of the poorest air quality in the nation due to major transportation corridors (Interstate 10, Highway 86,), proximity to major metropolitan areas (the southern California Inland Empire), and natural sources of air pollution from desert dust and varying water levels of the Salton Sea.
The Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians sought grant funding to build an air-monitoring program and track the levels of dust in the air over time. Supporters included Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, Torres Martinez Band of Desert Cahuilla Indians, Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians, National Tribal Air Association, Tribal Air Monitoring Support Center, Salton Sea Authority, South Coast AQMD, City of Coachella, Bureau of Reclamation, and Bureau of Indian Affairs.
With this support, The Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians was successfully awarded a Community Air Grant from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) under the Assembly Bill 617 program. CARB’s AB 617 program is aimed at air resource protection through a new community-focused action framework. The goal of the program is to educate people about the air they breathe.
Data collected at the new air monitoring station will soon be made available to the public on the Tribe’s website: 29palmstribe.org.
For more information, contact the Twenty-Nine Palms Tribal Environmental Protection Agency at tepa@29palmsbomi-nsn.gov.
About the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians:
The Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians trace their origins back to the Chemehuevi, a peaceful and nomadic Tribe whose territory once covered parts of California, Utah, Arizona, and Southern Nevada. In 1867, a group of Chemehuevi settled at the Oasis of Mara in Twentynine Palms. The Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians are their descendants. Today, the Tribe’s Reservation lands consist of two parcels, which are located near the town of Twentynine Palms and the City of Coachella. The Tribe’s two economic enterprises, Tortoise Rock Casino and Spotlight 29 Casino, help provide housing, education and financial security for the Tribe’s future generations.
About Cabazon Band of Mission Indians:
The Cabazon Band of Mission Indians is a federally recognized Indian tribe with approximately 1,610 acres of reservation land in the Coachella Valley. The Tribe owns several business enterprises including Fantasy Springs Resort Casino. Goals include growing and diversifying its business ventures to increase employment in the Coachella Valley, increasing the support of community programs, continuing to pursue economic self-sufficiency and preserving and educating the public about Cabazon culture.
