Laserfiche WebLink
<br />. Development of new and existing direct flow rights on the San Juan, Piedra, Florida and <br />Animas Rivers. <br /> <br />. Funding and assistance to develop smaller and environmentally acceptable reservoirs and/or <br />enlarge existing facilities such as Lemon and Vellecita reservoirs for storage of Tribal water. <br />The exchange and conservation opportunities in our area have never been seriously <br />considered. Analysis of opportunities such as these is the "new mission" of the Bureau of <br />Reclamation (BOR), Why is the ALP an exception? <br /> <br />2. Water for Minimum Stream Flows <br /> <br />To date, the process attending the ALP has failed to recognize and address the cultural and <br />spiritual values many of our people hold for living rivers and streams. The same weakness exists in the <br />underlying 1986 Settlement Agreement. Any "impact" analysis that does not assess the cost to our <br />spiritual well-being and cultural identity of destroying or degrading the rivers that flow through our <br />native lands is both substantively incomplete and legally deficient under The National Environmental <br />Policy Act. <br /> <br />The flaws described above are the result of closed processes. Many Tribal members know little <br />about the ALP and nothing about alternatives. Something is wrong when decisions of this <br />consequence are being made without input from the Tribe's elders and spiritual leaders, or the <br />informed consent of the Tribe's general membership, To date, decisions about the Tribe's water <br />interests have been made by a select few that have and continue to be heavily influenced by non-Indians <br />who care little about our spiritual and traditional values, <br /> <br />We note with great interest the way federally guaranteed minimum stream flows were <br />established for the rivers of our northern Utah cousins through the CUP Completion Act, These <br />guarantees, together with funding for stream restoration and enhancement, were provided in addition <br />to the replacement Indian Water Rights Settlement in the Act, <br /> <br />What opportunities exist to use a portion of our historic water rights for stream flowsry If we <br />release the State and Federal Government from obligation to develop the ALP, what funding could be <br />made available for stream restoration and enhancement? If the Tribe dedicated a portion of its water <br />rights to this purpose, could that water be recaptured and marketed by the Tribe from Lake PowelP <br /> <br />2 <br />