WSPP00010 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

. lakes on the reservation are a world-class habitat. These resources already exist, " says Dick Baldes of the u.s. FISh and Wildlife Service. "It makes no sense to drain them dry every year for irrigation." Water rights in the area are administered by BuRec, the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Wyom- ing state engineer. On May 8, Vandemoer requested that Wyoming slate engineer Jeff Fassett increase flows on certain stretches of the Wind River to honor the in- stream flows they have designated in their new code. Vandemoer did not make a formal "call" on the river but had requested the state's cooperation in honoring tribal water rights. Three days later, Fassett responded in a letter that "the tribe's Wmd River interim water cost and the in- stream flow quantities purportedly adopted under it can- not presently be recognized." Fassett added that he hoped the stale and tn'hes could work cooperatively on the issue, but he listed no criteria or conditions under which tribal water-management authority or strategies would be recognized by the state. Fassett has, in the past, complained about the way water rights have heen administered by the BIA near Crowheart. "The rules are there are no rules," he says. "If it's clear as to how it's going to operate, then those junior irrigators can make the appropriate decision. It's not known what's going to kill them. They've got to have some sort of predictability." In the past, Fremont County irrigators have had un- contested use of the area's water. The tribes' proposal to use their newly decreed senior water rights to maintain minimum flows for fish and wildlife is meeting strong resistance. "This has always heen a farming economy, and always will be," says one Riverton farmer. Tim Schell grows hay on about 2SO acres of irrigated land near Crowheart on the Wmd River Reservation. He says that everyone can point fingers at the government for overappropriating water or the state engineer for failing to administer water rights closely, "hut what shakes down is what happens on the ground. The people in trouble aren't the politicians." "Some people aren't going to survive if this goes on a long time," Schell says. "It would make things beller if we had a little leadership on all sides. We're not seeing it. We need to look at the big picture and solve problems through negotiation." By mid-May, slate and tnoal representatives had heen unable to set a date for the nest negotiating ses- sion. Tribal officials walked out of the last session when the slate asked them to abandon their plans and indi- cated that they would not move from their own status . . O?19 quo position. Election-year politics seem to have hardened posi- tions as well. Local politicians have little support on the reservation, and some participant speculate that the hard lines now being taken will soften after the Novem- ber elections. BILL COULD SET STAGE FOR FUTURE WILDERNESS RIGHTS A pending Arizona wilderness bill has caused con- cern among congressmen and consumptive water users in the western U.S. Although the bill would leave the adjudication of wilderness water rights in the hands of individual slates, opponents say a dangerous precedent could be set with its passage, and they fear that this bill could set the tone for future wilderness water decisions. The bill, which was cosponsored by senators Dennis DeConcini (D-Ariz.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.), would dc<igJ'ate 2.4 million acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land in Arizona as wilderness. Al- though opponents of the bill support the creation of the wilderness areas, they don't support the water-rights lan- guage in the bill "We are not opposed to the de<iS".lion of additional wilderness areas in the West," said Tom Donnelly, ex- ecutive vice president of the National Water Resources Association (NWRA). "We strongly support the proper management and use of the public land and feel that each slate should have the right to decide how the public land within its boundaries will be used in order to achieve the proper balance of environmental value, recreational opportunity, and economic benefit and health. "However, we are ememely concerned that the grant- ing of federal reserved water rights to the wilderness area severely upsets the balance," he said. "We believe such an action will have a major, albeit unintended, ad- verse impact on existing water rights, future water use and future water-resource practices." What worries organizations such as the NWRA is that BW land was designated for this wilderness area, and, according to Donnelly, most BW land is located at lower elevations far down in the draining basins. 0p- ponents fear that the bill will put upstream consumptive water users at the mercy of federal wilderness areas. Proponents of the designation disagree. "The facts are that without any language one way or the other the slate is going to adjudicate the water rights, " said Deb- WATER RIGHTS 3