WSP10769

• File Number: 8220.105
• Description: Colorado River-Water Projects-Navajo
• State: CO
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Water Division: 5
• Date: 7/1/2001
• Author: BOR
• Title: Revised Draft Environmental Assessment for the Jicarilla Apache Nation Water Subcontract-aka USBR/PNM Water Contract Renewal and Extension
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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compacts, Supreme Court decrees, and Federal trust responsibility to the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, the
Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, the Jicarilla Apache Nation, and the Navajo Nation. Several Section 7
Endangered Species Act consultations have been completed in the San Juan River Basin since the
initiation of the SJRRJP. Data used in these consultations included a depletion base (environmental
baseline used by the USFWS). Those baseline depletions include the 16,200 AF currently consumed by
,In" Ilnnpr thp rAntl"'!..-'t utith , P.;:'R'D U/ith th.,. nl"'f"\rV"C'P~ <:>I"'ti........ th"" li.........;II... Arv",...h", l\l..,t;n" ",ill C'.,......h,
- - - - _u__. ...- --....--. .. .... ~ ~ ~ .,. ...... ..._ ,.... ~t'~~-~ ~_U~". ,..- ,,'...... ...... . .t'........... . ....,....... ..... .......t't'.J
the water to PNM rather than USBR. Therefore, the proposed action is only a contractual change
between water suppliers and the depletions will remain unchanged.

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6.4.4 Impacts of the No Action Alternative

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Implementation of the no action alternative would require cessation of approximately 2,000 megawatts of
electric power generation by SJGS after December 31, 2005. This electric power is already allocated to
an existing customer base and, by the year 2005, would need to be replaced and expanded upon by other
facilities, either locally or in the region.

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While the area would be returned to general wildlife habitat, a minimum of3 years would be required to
decommission, dismantle, and reclaim the SJGS site. This would involve the temporary loss of rangeland
habitat and the permanent loss of the aquatic habitat provided by the storage reservoir and the wetland
created by seepage from the storage reservoir. The weir would be removed from the river and eventually
allow free movement of the fish community in that area. During the period of decommissioning,
dismantling, and reclamation, all wildlife use of the SJGS area, including special status species, would be
disrupted significantly until reclamation was complete. Those species that rely on reservoirs would be
displaced entirely.

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6.5

Indian Trust Assets

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The United States has a trust responsibility to protect and maintain rights reserved by or granted
to American Indian Tribes or Indian individuals by treaty, statutes and executive orders. This trust
responsibility requires that agencies such as USBR take actions reasonably necessary to protect Indian
trust assets (ITAs). The USBR ITA policy states that this agency will carry on its activities in a manner
that protects IT As and avoids adverse impacts when possible. When USBR cannot avoid adverse
impacts. it will provide appropriate mitigation or compensation. The terms used in this analysis are
defined as follows:

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. IT As are legal interests in assets held in trust by the federal government for federally recognized
Indian tribes or individuals.

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. Assets are anything owned that has monetary value. The assets need not be owned outright, but could
be some other type of property interest, such as a lease or right to use something. Assets can be real
property, physical assets, or intangible property rights.

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. A trust has three components: the trustee, the beneficiary and the trust asset(s). The beneficiary also
is referred to as the beneficial owner of the trust assets. In the trust relationship, title to IT As is held
by the United States (trustee) for the benefit of an Indian tribe or individual (beneficiary).

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