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<br />I ' <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />II. FINDINGS OF FACT REGARDING REQUESTED AMENDMENTS AND <br />CHANGES . <br /> <br />A. Suitability <br /> <br />29. The 1991 Consent Decrees may be modified due to the change in law <br />found in the 2000 Settlement Act Amendments. See Order (Mar. 7, 2005) (''Mar. 7 <br />Order") at 9. The Court incorporates herein the factual findings made in its Mar. 7 Order <br />at 9 regarding this determination. <br /> <br />30. The 1988 Settlement Act authorized the Secretary of the Department of <br />the Interior to supply water to the Tribes from the ALP in accordance with the 1986 <br />Settlement Agreement. Applicant's Ex. 2&3 (1991 Consent Decrees) at 1988 Settlement <br />Act, g 4(a) ("Provision of Water to the Tribes''). The 1991 Consent Decrees, <br />implementing the 1986 Settlement Agreement and the 1988 Settlement Act, provide a <br />certain quantity of water supplies for each Tribe for municipal and industrial (''M&f') <br />and agricultural irrigation uses. Under the 1991 Consent Decrees, the Ute Mountain Ute <br />Tribe would receive 6,000 acre~feet ("af') of ALP water for M&I uses and 26,300 af of <br />ALP water for irrigation; the Southern Ute Tribe would receive 26,500 af of ALP water <br />for M&I uses and 3,400 af of ALP water for irrigation. Applicant's Ex. 2 & 3 (1991 <br />Consent Decrees) at Stipulation for a Consent Decree, ~~6.A.i., 7.A.i. <br /> <br />31. . The 2000 Settlement Act Amendments amend section 6 of the 1988 <br />Settlement Act ("Repayment of Project Costs") to authorize the Secretary of the <br />Department of the Interior, acting through the Bureau of Reclamation, to "complete <br />construction of, and operate and maintain," the following facilities: "a reservoir, a <br />pumping plant, inlet conduit, and appurtenant facilities with sufficient capacity to divert <br />and store water from the Animas River to provide for an average annual depletion of <br />57,100 acre-feet to be used for a municipal and industrial water supply.. .,". /d. at ~ 302. <br />Under the Act, the Secretary of the Interior will deliver through these facilities certain <br />municipal and industrial allocations "for present and future needs," to the Ute Tribes and <br />to five other entities. Id. Congress allocated "an average annual depletion not to exceed <br />16,525 acre-feet of water to each Tribe for its present and future needs." Id. at ~ 302 <br />(a)( 1 )(C)(I). The Act establishes the "Colorado Ute Settlement Fund" to receive <br />monetary appropriations over a 5-year period to allow construction of the project features <br />within seven years. Id. at 9 303. As to the La Plata River, the facts demonstrate that <br />under the 2000 Settlement Act Amendments and Stipulations to Amend, a previously- <br />planned trans-basin diversion to bring Animas River water to the La Plata River Basin for <br />purposes of irrigation is not contemplated by Refined Alternative 4. Applicant's Ex. 10 <br />(2000 FSEIS); 1 J (ROD). Accordingly, the agricultural irrigation facilities required to <br />provide rogation water supplies from the ALP are "not authorized" under the 2000 <br />Settlement Amendments, Applicant's Ex. 1, and the La Plata River is no longer a source <br />for the reserved water rights of the Ute Tribes. See Stipulations to Amend. <br /> <br />32. The alternative settlement, as reflected in the 2000 Settlement Act <br />Amendments, is intended to provide substitute benefits to the Southern Ute Indian Tribe <br /> <br />13 <br /> <br />