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<br />'. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />community with a 21,840-acre reservation south of Phoenix. The Ak-Chin <br /> <br />had become practically self-sufficient by means of thriving farms of cotton, <br /> <br />wheat, barley, and maize; however, adjacent non-Indian farms pumped so <br /> <br />much groundwater that Indian wells could no longer provide sufficient <br /> <br /> <br />means of irrigation. By what some term a "water treaty," the Federal <br /> <br />Government was committed to provide the Indian community with a perma- <br /> <br />nent supply of water amounting to 85,000 acre-feet annually by the year <br />2003 and to meet emergency needs immediately. The Secretary of the <br /> <br />Interior's inability to secure 85,000 acre-feet led to a renegotiated agree- <br /> <br />ment, called Agreement in Principle, whereby the Federal Government <br /> <br />advanced the due date for the permanent supply of water from the year <br /> <br />2003 to 1988, in exchange for the Ak-Chin's acceptance of a reduced <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />annual amount of water (75,000 acre-feet in normal years, 72,000 acre-feet <br /> <br />in any drought year, and 85,000 acre-feet when surplus is available and <br /> <br /> <br />the Ak-Chin community requests it). As further compensation for the <br /> <br />Ak-Chin's agreement not to sue for breach of contract, the Secretary of <br /> <br />',Ie' <br />'l'; <br /> <br />the Interior agreed to pay operation and maintenance costs on all Ak-Chin <br />wells until the permanent supply of water is in place, and to provide <br /> <br />$50,000,000 in economic development loans and grants. As of this moment, <br /> <br />the Secretary of the Interior is searching for a reliable source of 55,000 <br /> <br />acre-feet to supplement the 20,000 acre-feet it already is assured from the <br /> <br />Central Arizona Project. The Secretary is looking now at 10me of the <br /> <br />Arizona water districts that have not used their full allocation of water, <br /> <br />and thinking that under the principle of "use it or lose it," he may obtain <br />a substantial portion of his needed supply from such water districts. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />In a somewhat similar case, the Papago Indian Tribe of Arizona was <br /> <br />able to settle its lawsuits against major mining companies and agricultural <br /> <br />01f)2 <br /> <br />11 <br /> <br />1 <br />