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r . . . ) THE DURAl" ~ r-- C\l o HERALD/BARRY SMITH GOV. RICHARD LAMM (Idt) puIs his .Iignature on a cOlt-sharing and Indian water right.s ilgreemenl. Waiting their lurns to sign are Ute Mountain Ute Chainnan Ernest House, Southern Ute Chairman Chris Baker and Animas-La Plata Waler Consenancy DillriCI Chairman John Murphy. . . Governor Lamm sIgns 'historic' A-LP pact. on Friday morning to get a signcd COpy of the agreement so it could be SenllO Washington. where U.S. Sen. Bill Armstrong. R-Colo., and staff can re\'iew it. It will then be forwarded to In- tcrior Secretary Donald Hodel, who must decide by June 30 ifit is a rair wa)' to share the up-front cosu of the $553 million projcct. If Hodel signs it. the focus on Animas.La Plata will shifl to con- tract negotiations between the Ani- mas-La Plata Water Comervancy District and the U.S. Bureau ofRe- c1amation and subcontract n('gOlia. tiom betwccn the district and other entities such as the city of Durango Ihal are to rt'ceive watt'r from the project. The contract negotiations will lead up to an election in the district on ,,'hetht'r or not to apprO\'e the contract. The district encompasst's the city of Durango and much of the southwest pan of La Plata County. By Barry Smith H~rilld City Editor Gov. Richard Lamm, along with dIe heads of Colorado's two Ute tribes and area water districts, signed a "historic" agreement Fri- day designed 10 get the Animas-La PI.ata \\'ater Project .built, At a hastily called ceremony that took advantage of Lamm's pre- sence in Durango for a speech, the "agreement in principal" for COSI- sharing and seulement of Indian Water claims was signed and sent to Washington, D,C. Lamm noted that all panie. to the agreement ha\'e approved it- except the federal go\'ernmem. "That comes next... right. coun. sel?" Lamm said, turning to Paula Phillips of the state AHorney General's alTIce, one of Ihe lead agencies in bringing the agreement together. Phillips had flown into Durango . . Phillips called Friday's ceremony a "whirlwind conclusion" to the months-long negotiations that went into the agreement. "This all has come up since II o'clock this morning," Lamm said of the gathering of \'I'ater officials. Lamm said the agreement is "his- toric" and "immemdy important" to resolving Indian \'I'ater claims and heading ofT expensive litiga. tion, then offered to answer ques- tions about the agreement. But ht' noted that he k.new little oftht' spe- cifics. When a reporter asked if the AgrcemCIH WA' cOlllidcred to be et:juiLilble to all the panics, South. ern Ute ChAirman Chris Baker said: "Our signing it S3)'S it's OK," Ernest Hou!>e, chaim13n of the Ute Mountain tri~. said "putting our hands together" to "'ork out differences in order to obtain a reli- able water supply was "the.- best way to get it done."