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<br />irrigation water. That situation will undoubtedly continue until at <br />least next year. <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />We had long planned to take a pipeline into the U~e Mountain Indian <br />reservation south of Cortez and supply them with good quality drinking <br />water. The Solicitor for the Bureau of Indian Affa~rs has ruled in <br />previous years that the cost to the Indians would be ~eferred under the <br />Leavitt Act. The new Solicitor for the Department of the Interior, <br />apparently, has ruled that it cannot be deferred. <br /> <br />The last we knew of the situation is that there is a requirement that <br />the Ute Mountain Tribe sign a letter of intent to repay annually the <br />cost of that municipal water. The tribe has been allocated a thousand <br />acre-feet per year. The cost of that water is $150 an acre-foot, which <br />means an annual repayment of a hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The <br />Indians cannot come up with a hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The <br />tribe is virtually broke. They have laid off almost all of the tribal <br />employees. There is no way. they can pay a hundred and fifty thousand <br />dollars a year. <br /> <br />At the present time, we are at an. impasse on the Dolores project <br />because of an internal dispute within the Department of the Interior. <br />It is nothing that the conservancy district or the state of Colorado <br />has anything to do with. It is an internal matter within the Department <br />of the Interior. The way things are going in that. department, this <br />matter may never be resolved. Things are not getting done in the <br />Department of the Interior. <br /> <br />I have informed some members of our congressional delegation of the <br />situation. A request has been made by Congressman Evans that the <br />Secretary of the Interior furnish some satisfactory information as to <br />why the project is being delayed. We are hopeful that the matter will <br />be resolved by the end of next week. If not, the~ the Governor and the <br />members of the congressional delegation who are interested will inter- <br />vene with the Secretary of the Interior to try to get the matter <br />resolved. It is just one of. these ridiculous situations. <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />Even had we been able to hold our meeting in Cortez this weekend, we <br />could not have had a ground breaking ceremony, because we don't have <br />approval for construction expenditures yet. I met with the Commissioner <br />of Reclamation, Mr. Higginson, in Washington. He is completely sympa- <br />thetic. He is anxious to get on with the construction job. He has <br />assured me that as far as the Bureau of Reclamation is concerned there <br />is no holdup with the Dolores project. He is simpiy unable to get con- <br />struction authority from the Secretary of the Interior. <br /> <br />I think the matter will be resolved within the next week or two. If so, <br /> <br />-29- <br />