Western States Water Council 2001 Report

Home Browse Search

settlements and funding them, and looked forward to working with Mr. Connor (who had remained on the phone following the break) and others to secure settlements in the future. But it was obviously going to be a more difficult task. Stanley Pollock, Counsel to the Navajo Nation, described his experience and obvious disappointment in what he saw was the Administration's narrow interpretation of their trust responsibility. Mr. Pollock remarked on the notion that we need to create a crisis. He noted that there was a disaster on the Navajo Nation Reservation right then, where 40% of the Navajo Nation need to haul water. When disaster strikes, we don't ask as a nation how big the disaster is before we decide to respond, he said. As far as the call for creativity, Mr. Pollack saw no "silver bullet." The money was going to have to come from somewhere else. What we needed to do was communicate the crisis on the reservations to the Congress. John Utton, representative to the Council from New Mexico and Attorney with Sheehan, Sheehan & Stelzner, explored various sources of potential revenue to fund settlements, including redirecting funds from some other program, creative sources of funding, such as the mechanism used in the Arizona Water Settlement, which utilized the Lower Colorado Basin Fund, utilizing other federal assets, and by obtaining funding through an "omnibus" Indian water right settlement bill. John Thorson, currently Administrative Law Judge of the California Public Utilities Commission, and formerly long -time Water Master in Arizona, introduced himself as an author. He, together with Bonnie Colby and Sarah Britton had just published a book distributed to all attendees entitled: "Negotiating Tribal Water Rights - Fulfilling Promises in the Arid West." (University of Arizona Press 2005, 520- 621 -1441, see also at www.uapress.arizona.edu.) He noted that liability to fund Indian needs, including water settlements, had been established because Anglo- Americans had forced Native Americans from their ancestral lands, which represented essentially a "hurricane of dislocation." He also recognized that the constraints were real and that the major parties, including tribes and states, would need to do more to build support, including expanding linkage with environmental interests. He noted in conclusion that relationships that are built in the process of negotiations are their biggest strength and should be the focus for further efforts to build support. Mr. Connor responded to the panel's remarks by underscoring the importance of the upcoming hearing on the proposed Duck Valley Settlement. He thought that settlements in the future must be "tight," meaning that there must be more attention paid to the reasonableness of outcomes and the respective benefits to the parties. Clayton Matt was the wrap -up speaker for the symposium. He serves as the Natural Resources Department head for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. Mr. Matt summarized many of the points that had been made during the conference, and drew from his experience in his current position in sharing perspectives on these points. He then underscored the increasing difficulty facing tribes and states and others seeking settlement. Roundtable on Funding for Water Development and Management for a Sustainable Future Hal Simpson, WSWC Chair, welcomed those participating in a roundtable discussion focused on sustainable water development and funding, particularly in rural areas, as part of the Council's meetings in San Antonio, October 19 -21, 2005. He raised a number of issues for discussion, including the challenge of meeting our future water needs in the face of federal cuts in discretionary spending due to the war and hurricane disaster assistance. He mentioned drought response planning, desalination, agricultural conservation spending and federal permitting for water projects as important issues. Norm Semanko, a W SWC member and President of the National Water Resources Association, addressed westwide reclamation issues. He focused on aging infrastructure and the need to preserve existing facilities, while developing new water supplies for the future. Some facilities will require major reconstruction, and there needs to be a means for project sponsors to repay such rehabilitation costs over time. 30