ATEC – A Cadiz Solution – Brings Water Sovereignty to Northern California Tribal Community
Written by Nia Bowers
Clean drinking water is essential to public health, community stability, and self-governance. How it is developed, managed, and sustained reflects not just infrastructure, but the values of a community. At Big Valley Rancheria in Northern California, the Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians has completed a groundwater treatment facility that brings those values to life. The system now serves approximately 1,400 residents and produces up to 100 gallons per minute of treated drinking water. While the facility itself is technical in nature, the story behind it is fundamentally about partnership, trust, and tribal leadership shaping outcomes on its own terms.
The project was developed in collaboration with ATEC Water Systems, a California water treatment company owned by Cadiz Inc. Rather than functioning as a conventional vendor relationship, the partnership placed decision-making authority with the tribe, while ATEC provided engineering, treatment technology, and long-term support.
The water system addresses naturally occurring groundwater conditions common in the region, including iron, manganese, ammonia, and corrosivity. What distinguishes the project is not simply what it treats, but how it was designed to last. The facility uses modular vertical filtration vessels that can be adapted over time to respond to changing water quality standards or community needs without requiring an entirely new plant.
“You can have a small plant for anywhere from a couple hundred gallons a minute to up to thousands of gallons a minute, and you can use the same vessels to take out different types of contaminants from the water system,” said Ben Ray III, CEO and Tribal Administrator for the Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians. “That flexibility matters when you’re planning for the future.”
Operational reliability was also a key priority. The system’s automated backwashing process allows filters to clean themselves without interrupting water production. That means no service disruptions during maintenance cycles, an important consideration for any community relying on consistent access to water.
“The most interesting part of the system is not having the downtime for backwashing cycles,” said Leon Fred, the Rancheria’s lead operator. “We don’t even really notice when the backwash goes on because it’s automatic and there’s no loss in production time.”
For tribal leadership, infrastructure decisions are inseparable from sovereignty. Control over water systems allows tribes to govern essential resources according to community values, long-term planning priorities, and responsibility to future generations.
“Our community is the Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians,” said Tribal Chairman Flaman McCloud Jr. “The tribe really prides itself on its sovereignty. Part of that is water sovereignty.”
The completed facility is owned and operated by the tribe and supports homes , public facilities, and long-term community planning. It is not a temporary solution, but a permanent infrastructure built within tribal governance.
ATEC Water Systems has partnered with tribal nations since 2008 and has worked with twelve tribal communities across California, the Pacific Northwest, and Canada. The company’s treatment systems are American-made and designed for long-term performance, with powder-coated steel vessels and filtration media engineered to perform reliably over decades. ATEC’s role extends beyond installation to include pilot testing, system customization, remote monitoring, and ongoing maintenance support.
That long-term commitment was central to the Big Valley partnership. Tribal leaders emphasized that trust and follow-through mattered as much as technical performance.
“To have partners like ATEC that take pride in their work and their product goes a long way,” said McCloud. “They offered to work with us and guide us step by step. It means a lot for us to have that relationship and for them to actually keep their word.”
In California, water infrastructure stories often emerge in moments of crisis, during drought emergencies, contamination scares, or regulatory disputes. Less attention is paid to projects that succeed quietly by design. The Big Valley Rancheria system does not make headlines through scale or spectacle. Its significance lies in durability, adaptability, and respect for tribal authority.
For ATEC, the project reflects a broader approach to water solutions that integrates treatment, supply, and storage while working within the governance structures of the communities it serves. For the Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians, it represents an investment in health, continuity, and self-determination.
At a time when conversations about water in California are shaped by climate pressures and equity concerns, the Big Valley project offers a grounded example of what collaboration can look like when sovereignty is treated as a foundation rather than an obstacle. It shows that infrastructure built through genuine partnership can serve everyone involved, delivering clean water today while preserving autonomy and choice for generations to come.
