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<br />000741 <br /> <br />and implemented, S. 1771 would provide the [mal elements of a Water Rights Settlement <br />Agreement for the Colorado Ute Indian Tribes (Tribes). Both Ute Tribes have stated that this <br />arrangement <br />would constitute an acceptable solution to them, at least in the near term. <br /> <br />Backflround <br /> <br />The Animas-La Plata Project, located in La Plata and Montezuma Counties in southwestern <br />Colorado and in San Juan County in northwestern New Mexico, was described in a 1979 Bureau <br />of Reclamation (Reclamation) Definite Plan Report, in a 1980 Final Environmental Statement, in a <br />1992 Draft Supplement to the Final Environmental Statement, and in a 1996 Final Supplement to <br />Final Environmental Statement on the Project. This original Project would divert flows of the <br />Animas, La Plata, and San Juan Rivers (by exchange) for irrigation, municipal, and industrial uses. <br />It would also provide for fish and wildlife preservation, recreation facilities, and a cultural <br />resources program. <br /> <br />The Project was authorized by the Colorado River Basin Project Act of September 30, 1968 <br />(Public Law 90-537), as a participating project under the Colorado River Storage Project Act of <br />April 11, 1956 (public Law 84-485). That authorization was based on the feasibility report of the <br />Secretary of the Interior transmitted to the U.S. Congress on May 4, 1966. <br /> <br />In 1988, Congress passed the Colorado Ute Indian Water Rights Settlement Act of 1988 (Public <br />Law 100-585) supplementing the authorization of the Animas-La Plata Project and adopting <br />language to implement the 1986 Colorado Ute Indian Water Rights Final Settlement Agreement. <br />The Southern Ute Indian and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribes, headquartered in Ignacio and <br />Towaoc, Colorado, respectively, have reservation lands within the Animas and La Plata Rivers <br />drainages, as well as in drainage basins of other streams tributary to the San Juan River. The <br />Colorado Ute Indian reservations were created in 1868, resulting in the Tribes having potential <br />priority dates for their water rights that precede the priority dates for most, if not all, of the non- <br />Indian water rights. <br /> <br />For years, the Tribes pursued an equitable settlement of their water rights claims in these river <br />drainages. In the early 1980's, discussions were initiated to achieve a negotiated settlement of the <br />claims. After negotiations, the Tribes and other parties signed the Final Settlement Agreement on <br />December 10, 1986. Specific legislation to implement the Settlement Agreement was enacted by <br />the U.S. Congress on November 3, 1988. The Settlement Agreement provided the Southern Ute <br />and Ute Mountain Ute Tribes with development funds in the amount of $20 million and $40.5 <br />million, respectively. <br /> <br />The Federal government and the State of Colorado have fully funded these development funds. <br />The Ute Mountain Utes used some of this money to construct a pipeline to supply up to 1 <br />thousand acre-feet of potable water per year to Towaoc. In addition, Reclamation funded the <br /> <br />2 <br />