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JUL-27-98 MUN U8:~8 AM 000773 r AX NU. t'. 1 j . Vested rights have been created under Colorado law to water rights in all of the various streams and rivers which are the subject ofthe Settlement Agreement. Extensive economies have developed in reliance on those rights. . Several entities other than the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute Tribes have been designated to receive water from the Project. These entities include the Navajo Nation, the cities of Durango and Farmington. and irrigators. Despite these substantial commitments of resources. the Animas-La Plata Project continues to be mired in bureaucratic red tape. The Project proponents recognized the reality that the Project was going nowhere. over concerns about fiscal and environmental impacts. The Ute Tribes and their non-Indian neighbors also realized that the failure to complete the Project would result in prolonged. expensive and divisive litigation. It would destroy the community of interest between Indian and non-Indian neighbors in southwest Colorado. It would derail a decade long partnership between states. Tribes and non-Indians. It would mean that the United States has failed once again to honor its obligations to Native Americans. Rather than rest on the agreements that have already been made, and recognizing the realities of the congressional appropriation process and the delays inherent in constant litigation, the Tribes and non-Indians of southwest Colorado and northwest New Mexico once again negotiated a compromise. The result is the Animas-La Plata Lite project spelled out in H.R. 3478 and S. 1771 now before Congress. The Tribes and non-Indian communities made incredible sacrifice - negotiating among themselves _ to reach this new agreement. This new proposal is designed to address the specific cost and environmental concerns that have plagued the Animas-La Plata Project since it was first authorized in 1968. The proposal is a testament to the dedication of the parties to avoid litigation and confrontation. and to see to a final conclusion the obligations to which the parties committed in 1986. Specifically, the proposal embodied in H.R. 3478 and S. 1771 accomplishes the following: . It reallocates total project depletions within the aggregate amount allowed under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biological opinion of 57,100 acre feet per year. It therefore supports the continued partnership embodied in the San Juan Recovery Program. . The Tribes have agreed that this allocation is in full settlement of their reserved rights claims on the Animas and La Plata Rivers. . It eliminates all facilities originally proposed to deliver irrigation water. . It reduces total project costs by more than $400 million. . It retains significant cost sharing by state and local agencies. 11