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. . . Western States Water Council Legal Committee Seattle, Washington July 14, 2005 agreement with the particular administration, their voices are heard. But if this actually becomes law, it will become an interesting next step in that process. REPORT ON INDIAN WATER RIGHTS SETTLEMENTS Susan Cottingham, newly appointed Council representative from Montana, and head of the Montana Reserved Water Rights Compact Commission, discussed the status of Indian water rights settlements. She felt it was a critical time for such settlements, given the federal budget outlook and other constraints. She noted she had been working with the Ad Hoc Group on Indian water right settlements for some years now, and right now the process is languishing. She therefore urged members to attend the upcoming WSWC/NARF Indian Water Rights Settlements symposium in September in Moscow, Idaho. This will provide an opportunity for people to get together to strategize and hopefully reinvigorate the process. Following the approval of the Arizona and Nez Perce Settlements, she believed that OMB got "a major case of cold feet." The now "infamous" criteria and procedures had again been raised to defIDe the federal obligation for purposes of negotiation. She also described the problem of key interests within the administration coming late into the negotiations to offer their views. That has been an ongoing issue for years, but it continues to aggravate the difficulty in reaching settlements. Further, the outlook is particularly troublesome with regard to smaller settlements that may not have the same kind of political clout or associated water market. Funding continues to be the bottom-line, and people will need to be creative. The state of Montana is committed, and she said that the Montana State Legislature this spring authorized $18.5 million for two of our Indian water settlements. An associated issue is funding for the negotiation process itself. Unfortunately, the Department of Justice usually gets more money for the litigation, in her experience, than the tribes get for negotiations. She listed an example with the Crow Tribe. In conclusion, Susan, as a member of the Reserved Rights Subcommittee, offered to be a clearinghouse for the kind of creative thinking that will be necessary to move settlements forward in the future. SURVEY AND STATUS OF THE REPORT ON STATE WATER EXPORT LAWS AFfER SPORHASE Jim Davenport gave a status report on the work plan item relating to state water export laws. Jim had planned to make a presentation on the matter, but in light of time constraints, volunteered to give the presentation at the next meetings in San Antonio. OTHER MATTERS There being no other matters before the Committee, the meeting was adjourned. F:IMINUTESILEGAL-WA. wpd 9