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Last modified
8/16/2009 2:42:38 PM
Creation date
10/4/2006 6:30:48 AM
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Board Meetings
Board Meeting Date
7/13/1998
Description
Colorado River Basin Issues - San Juan/San Miguel - Dolores Director's Report
Board Meetings - Doc Type
Memo
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<br />---- <br />! _/ e--.'r "\ '" =: 'r - <br /> <br />\ <br />:......J.....-.tiC: <br /> <br />:--- <br />o-~I <br />;....-~ <br /> <br />:-; 5"-=-, ) Cl C1 <br />_. "--") -I <br /> <br />~ <br />i....-' <br /> <br />Bureaucratic doublecross <br /> <br />The Ute Indian tribes of <br />southwest Colorado have <br />plenty of reason to believe <br />that the Clinton administra- <br />tion's sudden, strong opposition to the <br />Animas-La Plata water settlement <br />smacks of perfidy. <br />The settlement, proposed in a bill <br />now before Congress, is a carefully <br />constructed compromise that scales <br />the original water.storage project <br />down from its initial $i H million <br />size to a $25i million system. It <br />would collect Animas River water to <br />which the Southern Ute and Ute <br />Mountain Indian tribes claim historic <br />rights, and it is known in its present, <br />much-revised form as Animas Lite. <br />The long journey to Animas Lite he- <br />gan 30 years ago, after environmen- <br />talists branded the original project a <br />boondoggle and demanded that it he <br />scrubbed. Since then it has b~n hotly. <br />argued, considerably narrowed in <br />scope and adjusted to accommodate <br />changing environmental concerns. <br />It would serve about one-third as <br />many users as flISt envisioned, tap- <br />ping some 5i,000 acre-feet of water <br />from the Animas, mostly for use by <br />the two tribes. The compromise is the <br />product of a year of negotiation be- <br />tween the tribes, project supporters <br />and opponents supervised by Lt Gov. <br />Gail Schoettler, and it satisfies the <br />provisions of the Colorado River <br />Compact. the agreement between <br /> <br />Colorado and do,vnstream states that <br />is the Magna Carta of western water <br />equity. <br />Sackers of the enabling bill were <br />assured of Clinton administration <br />support until this week. when the <br />SuRec abruptlj- declared it wants the <br />agreement reviewed and the bill re- <br />written. Its stated reasons: "renewed <br />concerns over unanswered fIScal fi- <br />nancial, economic and legal issu;s," <br />That is a stunning number of ques- <br />tion marks for a project that could <br />arguably be called the most enen- <br />sively studied and negotiated recla- <br />mation proposal of the past half cen- <br />tury, and it explains the two Colorado <br />tribes' exasperation with this new <br />spasm of federal foot dragging. <br />The tribes, confident of the priority <br />of their water rights, threaten to take <br />the case to federal court if the ad- <br />ministration scuttles the latest com- <br />promise. That could drag on for <br />years, cost the ta:<payers plenty and <br />further erode Indian confidence in <br />federal good faith. <br />Even more important, such a suit <br />could play havoc with the comple~ <br />and hard-won balance between Indi- <br />a!> and non-Indian water users far be- <br />yond this single river basin. <br />Among reclamation projects, Ani- <br />mas Lite is statI!-Qf-the-art. It has un- <br />dergone all the rehearsal that careful <br />planning can provide. Now it is time <br />to play the tune. <br />
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