In a letter to the Amador County Board of Supervisors, Joan Villa, Vice President of the Ione Band of Miwok Indians Tribal Water Association is claiming that Amador County and the county’s Department of Environmental Health are interfering with “the efforts by Indian Health Service to upgrade (their) tribal water system and replace (an) aging water storage tank.” In the letter, dated August 19th, the band is charging that Amador County does not have any authority over their tribal lands, per a 1992 federal court order, which dismisses all claims to jurisdiction over tribal trust properties, including the band’s property on Jackson Valley Road in Ione. T

he Ione band is also claiming that Amador County has delayed the water upgrade project for more than two years, which they say has caused “irreparable harm,” and for which they may seek civil and/or criminal action “as allowed by law.” Villa has requested that the Board of Supervisors investigate the county’s involvement in the delayed water project, and that the matter be placed on the next regular board meeting agenda.