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<br />DRAFT -- August 11, 1999 <br /> <br />Study on the Upper Colorado River Basin, which details the experiences of the five Tribes <br />with water right claims in that Basin, and which is attached as Appendix A to this Report. <br />The next section contains a detailed discussion of the Section 7 consultation process in <br />relation to the exercise of Indian water rights, identifying conflicts and problems which arise <br />in the course of this process. This section makes heavy reference to the Case Study on the <br />Upper Colorado River Basin. <br /> <br />Finally, the Working Group submits its Recommendations, which are framed as options for <br />the consideration of the Secretary of the Interior. <br /> <br />. . * <br /> <br />1. Summary of Issues Raised by Indian Tribes <br /> <br />The Working Group hosted three nationwide tribal consultations [counting the meeting in <br />Missoula] and other consultations with smaller multi-tribal groups, including several with <br />representatives of the Upper Colorado River Basin Tribes. Tribes raised many procedural and <br />substantive issues which we summarize below. They criticized the procedures used and the <br />judgments made by the FWS, NMFS, and water development agencies in their handling of <br />ESA consultations. The following discussion summarizes and describes comments from the <br />tribes with which the Working Group consulted. The Working Group has not asked the <br />agencies to address every allegation and criticism; nor do we offer a point-by-point <br />assessment in this Report. But we have attempted to address many of them in our <br />Recommendations. <br /> <br />The Tribal Consultations raised a number of issues which are more appropriately addressed by <br />the implementation of Secretarial Order 3206, or which are tangential to the Working Group's <br />primary focus. For example, the Tulalip Tribes charged that they were largely ignored in the <br /> <br />7 <br />