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OiJ1535 - . Attachment A E~~p~:~mm~~ooLoogHo~wR~e~o" Navaio Nation Department of Justice Development of Long Hollow Reservoir adversely impacts the Navajo Nation by utilizing releases from Navajo Reservoir to offset the downstream depletions attributable to Long Hollow Reservoir. It would be a breach of the trust responsibility owed by the federal government, including the Corps, to approve additional depletions of water for non-Indian uses while Navajo and Jicarilla uses cannot be fully developed. The proposed permit for Long Hollow Reservoir does not include a mitigation plan for offsetting the impact on the tribes. Moreover, the proposal to utilize Navajo Reservoir to offset depletions attributable to Long Hollow Reservoir is inconsistent with the purpose of Navajo Reservoir which is to provide a water supply for the Navajo Indian Irrigation Project, including water for municipal, domestic, and industrial uses. The Reservoir was not constructed to provide a water supply for the benefit of endangered fish so that additional water development could proceed elsewhere in the basin. The Navajo Nation has been an active participant in the San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation Program. The purpose of the Recovery Implementation Program is to recover endangered fish while allowing water development to proceed. The Navajo Indian Irrigation Project has invested several million dollars in the rehabilitation of Navajo diversions that would otherwise entrain endangered fish, and the Navajo Agricultural Product Industry maintains numerous fish rearing ponds to enhance the population of endangered fish. These investments have been made so that the dual purposes of the Recovery Implementation Program can be achieved. Neither the Corps, nor the applicant have made a similar contribution to the Program. To the extent that additional depletions are available in the basin, the benefit of those depletions should go first to the Indian tribes with the most senior priority and then to such other waters who have actively contributed toward the recovery ofthe endangered fish. New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission Further, an evaluation of the impact of incremental diversions associated with the project does not include the impact on the San Juan River flows that would result from storage of water in the Reservoir in either timing or amount. Storing water in the Reservoir may deplete base and peak flows of the San Juan River that may be needed for maintaining important spawning and rearing habitats for endangered fish species in the San Juan River. If the impact on the San Juan River is to be offset by increased releases from Navajo Reservoir in New Mexico, waters stored by the United States for the benefit of the Navajo Nation and the Jicarilla-Apache Nation may be negatively affected, contrary to the trust responsibilities of the United States to the Indian tribes. No consultation on this matter has been had with the tribes, and no mitigation has been proffered. Also, for your information, the information provided in the BA regarding fish passage at diversion dams on the San Juan River is incorrect. Under the San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation Program the Cudei diversion dam has been removed and fish passage facilities have been installed at the Hogback and Public Service Company of New Mexico diversions.