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I I provisions to supply the Ute Indians with domestic, industrial and sufficient water to irrigate approximately 3,000 acres of farm land on the reservation. In view of the present proposed litigation facing our area, I believe these provisions of supply for the Ute .J;I"\dians are of great importance. It is of significance to note that 'these :provisions were made in the planning of the Dolores project prior to any threatened or proposed litigation by the Justice Depart- ment. At this time, we also want to point out that we do have gqod relations with the Ute Mountain tribe as evidenced in their testimony before the National Water Commission in Washington, D. C., February B- 9, 1973, presented by Chairmen Albert Wing and Leonard Burc~; respec- tively. I~ I may quote from the testimony of the Ute Indians before the National Water Commission, I believe you as members of the State Water Conservation Board will concur in the importance of the con- struction of the Dolores project as a means of solving the question of Indian rights to water in southwestern Colorado, as follows: "The recent budget message to the Congress failed to recommend any additional advance planning funds for either the Animas-La Plata or the Dolores reclamation projects. As we have indicated previously, both of these projects are vital to the Indian tribes if they are indeed ever going to be able to use any of their water rights. These projects have the full support of the Indian and non-Indian commu- nities in southwestern Colorado. There appears to be little hope for Indian tribes if they cannot obtain construction of a multipurpose water reclamation project which includes recreation, irrigation, industrial and domestic features so vitally needed in the southwestern part of Colorado, a project which is and has been strongly supported by both the Indian and non-Indian communities in southwesuern Colo- rado for over 20 years. Certainly what the Indian tribes 'cannot do with the support of their friends and neighbors, they will not be able to do by themselves." Of great importance to the construction of the Dolores project are . the provisions for supplying supplemental water to the Montezuma Valley Irrigation Company. Presently, MVI has approximately 33,000 acres under irrigation within our project boundaries. Their present ,:!!!ystem utilized direct flow diversions to irrigate crops in the early months of the spring runoff of the Dolores River with some provisions 'for storage. These stored waters are utilized to supplement irri- gation in the latter months of the growing season when crops are maturing. However, during most irrigation seasons the storage -30-