Quechan

Located south of Joshua Tree National Park, 640,000-acre Chuckwalla could be targeted for water beneath the rugged desert floor, Donald Medart Jr., former councilman for the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe, told The Times earlier this month.

Located south of Joshua Tree National Park, 640,000-acre Chuckwalla could be zeroed in on for water beneath the rugged desert floor, according to Donald Medart Jr., former councilman for the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe, which was among the tribes that led the push for the monument designation.

In addition, the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe is seeking to establish the 390,000-acre Kw’tsán national monument on nearby desert lands in the southeast corner of California, abutting the Colorado River and hugging the border with Mexico.

The desert landscape comprising the envisioned Chuckwalla and Kw’tsán monuments connected tribes in the region, according to Lena Ortega of the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe.

Donald Medart Jr., a Fort Yuma Quechan Indian tribal council member, said the tribe has long fought mining and mineral exploration in the area and felt current protections weren’t sufficient.