BOARD01872

• Board Meeting Date: 9/27/1999
• Description: Colorado River Basin Issues - Interior Department's Indian Water Rights Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

DRAFT -- August 11, 1999

(4) for purposes of ESA implementation, FWS should treat Indian reservations as
existing, on-going federal projects consistent with the federal position in Indian water
rights cases;

(5) FWS should be required (by regulation or otherwise) to assure that it implements
the ESA in a manner consistent with established legal standards applicable to Indian
lands and federally protected Indian rights;

(6) All Tribal reserved water rights should be included in the environmental baseline;

(7) FWS should provide, in all biological opinions for projects dependent on use of
junior water rights, for the reinitiation of consultation when tribal senior water rights
are exercised in the future;

(8) Tribes should not be charged "mitigation fees" under the ESA as a prerequisite for
the use of their trust resources;

(9) FWS should explain fully how any action it proposes to take is consistent with the
purposes established by Congress in II duly enacted tribal water rights settlement;

(10) Tribes should be permitted to market their reserved water when implementation of
the ESA prevents tribes from developing their water resources on-reservation;

(ll) FWS should be educated to understand that the legal obligation to Tribes, relating
to reserved water rights, can and should co-exist with ESA mandates and may not be
ignored in the case of actual or potential conflicts; and

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