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<br />.. <br /> <br />000742 <br /> <br />construction of a $128 million project consisting of canals, laterals, and drains to deliver water the <br />Dolores Project to the Ute Mountain Ute reservation and has made 25 thousand acre-feet of <br />irrigation water available to the Tribe annually through these works. The Agreement also settled <br />the Tribes' water rights claims in a number of streams that are secure whether or not the Animas- <br />LaPlata Project goes forward. <br /> <br />The 1986 Settlement provided certain benefits to the Tribes, including a supply of water in certain <br />quantities, the construction of the Animas-LaPlata Project (in combination with other substantial <br />benefits noted above) would enable the Federal government to reach a fmal resolution of the <br />Tribes' water rights claims on the Animas and LaPlata Rivers. However, all parties recognized <br />that construction of the Animas-LaPlata Project would depend upon compliance with other <br />applicable laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act and the Reclamation statutes. <br />The Agreement did not guarantee that the Federal government would be able to construct this <br />project for the Tribes. <br /> <br />In the event that Reclamation does not complete certain major project features by January 1, <br />2000, the Settlement requires the Tribes, in consultation with the United States as trustee, to elect <br />among the following alternatives: (1) to retain the project reserved water rights claims on the <br />Animas and LaPlata Rivers; (2) to renegotiate their water rights without a guarantee that the <br />project would be built; or, (3) to reopen their litigation with regard to the Animas and LaPlata <br />Rivers. Reclamation acknowledged in its Fiscal Year 1998 budget justification that it is no longer <br />possible to meet the January I, 2000 objective. <br /> <br />The Animas-LaPlata Project has been the focus of controversy and litigation for many years. <br />Although Congress has passed two statutes authorizing construction, the project has not been <br />built because of a variety of environmental, cultural resource, financial, economic, and legal <br />concerns. These include disputes regarding the adequacy of environmental documentation, the <br />status of repayment and cost-sharing agreements executed in the late 1980s, and concerns <br />regarding compliance with New Mexico water quality standards. In 1996, in an attempt to <br />resolve the continuing disputes surrounding the original project, Colorado Governor Roy Romer <br />and Lt. Governor Gail Schoettler convened the project supporters ,and opponents in a process <br />intended to seek resolution of the controversy involved in the original Animas-La Plata Project <br />and to attempt to gain consensus on an alternative to the original Animas-La Plata Project. <br />Although the RomerlSchoettler Process did not achieve consensus, the process produced two <br />major alternatives. S. 1771 is similar to and based upon one of those alternatives. <br /> <br />The other alternative developed during the RomerlSchoettler Process proposed to provide water <br />to the Tribes through the purchase of irrigated lands and other associated water rights near the <br />existing Ute Reservations in southern Colorado and would use or purchase water from existing <br />projects or from expanded projects and delivery systems for the purpose of providing Indian-only <br />water. This alternative is not contained in S. 1771. The Tribes have rejected this alternative. <br /> <br />3 <br />