My tribe lived on Diablo Canyon land for millennia. Now we have a chance to reclaim it

I was a child when the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant went online. I never thought I’d see the day this ancestral land — the land the plant sits on — might be returned to my tribe, the Northern Chumash.

Yet mere months ago the tides turned in our favor with the planned decommissioning of the plant and the sale of 12,000 acres of one of the last stretches of undeveloped coastline on California’s Central Coast.

This twist of fate never would have happened without Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Tribal Land Transfer Policy, enacted last year. The policy was designed to return native lands to the original tribal owners and to prioritize the interests of tribes by selling these lands to us at fair market value, giving us the first right of refusal in negotiations for what to do with the land. This has brought my tribe one step closer to getting our ancestral land back, and with careful planning, could enable its future conservation.

My tribe was immediately interested in buying back the land and began planning a proposal for multi-use public access to the property with no new development. In addition to conservation of the undeveloped land, my tribe’s proposal lays out how we would clean up, restore and repurpose the former industrial areas to research and produce clean energy options.

The area already has the hookups needed for an offshore wind farm that, as the first of its kind off the California coastline, could demonstrate how to achieve clean, offshore energy and minimize resource conflicts. There is ample acreage for both responsibly sited solar and onshore wind farms, too.

The site is also home to a desalination plant that produces nearly a million gallons of freshwater daily. Due to California’s new climate change norm of almost yearly droughts, local communities are often put on restricted water use, and could benefit from a sustainable source of freshwater.

Desalination plants are known to have environmental issues. Working with researchers to modify the existing plant with new technologies would provide an exciting opportunity to solve some of the challenges of desalination and bring this unconventional yet increasingly necessary source of freshwater into a more sustainable future.

The Northern Chumash have inhabited California’s Western Coastline for millennia. The offshore area has a prime, deepwater upwelling that can provide us with a lot of information on unique flora, fauna, fish and migration patterns, as well as an area with historical shipwrecks and ancient offshore cultural sites. Point Conception, the area where the coast goes from being north-south to east-west, is known as the Western Gate to my people. It is the spot where we believe souls leave this world, and local archeological sites prove we have been its guardians for over 10,000 years.

In 2015, we submitted a proposal to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that the area around Point Conception be made into a National Marine Sanctuary. Accordingly, the marine sanctuary we proposed would bridge the ocean area between the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary that is currently not protected from oil and gas development. These areas need to be protected and preserved in order to continue to tell the story of the Chumash.

It is rare that native peoples are given the space to lead on sustainable energy development and climate science, but the importance of that leadership and the inclusion of indigenous knowledge cannot be overstated. This includes our expertise and knowledge of local permaculture, the importance of land restoration and artisanal fishing practices that support sustainable fisheries. We have lived on this land for thousands of years and alongside the geological deposits, our oral history has also endowed us with unparalleled knowledge of how this land and coastline have changed over time.

It is a long time coming, but I am excited about the opportunity to once again claim our land and protect our culture and history. My people have been here for millennia, and now we are adapting to yet the latest threat to our lifestyle — climate change.

I was the last member of my tribe born on this land. Now I have the opportunity to help lead its rebirth into a cleaner, more sustainable future.

Violet Sage Walker is the traditional vice-chairwoman of the Northern Chumash Tribe, a 7th generation beekeeper and the last Chumash born in Avila. She is the spokesperson for the proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary.

This story was originally published August 20, 2020 at 10:55 AM with the headline "My tribe lived on Diablo Canyon land for millennia. Now we have a chance to reclaim it."