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<br />1 - 20 <br /> <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />INTERIOR, DEPARTMENT OF <br />BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFIARS <br />WATER AND RELATED LAND RESOURCE PROGRAMS <br />IN THE MISSOURI RIVER BASIN <br /> <br />Program <br /> <br />(1) Rehabilitation and continued operation and maintenance of <br />existing irrigation and power projects involving expenditure <br />of construction funds and funds derived through assessment <br />of the local water users. <br /> <br />(2) Ongoing water resource inventories. by way of determining the <br />nature and extent of potential multipurpose projects. These <br />studies include water requirements, water supply, and preliminary <br />plan formulation. <br /> <br />(3) Confirmation of Indian water rights, essentially through <br />gathering of evidence showing existing and future development <br />of multipurpose water resource projects and following through <br />with litigation support when and where required. <br /> <br />(4) The inventory and development of management plans for soil. <br />range, forestry, recreation, fish and wildlife resources <br />consistent with good conservation practices or measures as <br />well as meeting environmental quality standards. <br /> <br />The Bureau has carried on this four-level program with funds allocated to <br />the Bureau of Indian Affairs without having recourse to Missouri River Basin <br />funds. From time to time, however, in various comprehensive river basin group <br />meetings, representatives have submitted tentative estimates of costs anticipated <br />in carrying out our total program, contingent on the best. available information we <br />had at the time. Subsequently, there were revisions to estimates as the work . <br />progressed to reflect changes in the basic requirements or just to keep up <br />with current cost ,trends. The upward spiral of these costs, while related to <br />inflationary pressures, are mainly attributed to the Bureau's cooperative effort <br />with the basin's tribes and the Department of Justice 'to resolve in a timely <br />manner a multitude of Indian resource rights issues, including those involved with <br />the adjudication of Indian water claims. <br />