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<br />4214 <br /> <br />Last week. Secretary of Interior Hodel came to the <br />Southwest. Secretary Hodel spoke to community leaders in Farmington, <br />New Mexico, and to the Western Regional Councll. In two separate <br />meet1ngs he made it abundantly clear that H southwest communities <br />seek a solution for Indian water rights problems, they are going to <br />have to help pay for those solutions. <br /> <br />We have to ask on what terms should the Animas-La Plata <br />project should be pursued? What level of cost sharing is acceptable <br />to us? What terms will the federal government? What alternatives are <br />there? Would the project truly resolve the water problems of all <br />concerned? This should all be part of negotiations. <br /> <br />We have some experiences to draw on when we look at <br />negot1ation of Ind1an water claims. I would like to tell you about a <br />few of them. Negotiation is a fairly new way to resolve Indian <br />claims. I thlnk it is the most promising means to a resolution, <br />although it has some problems. <br /> <br />I will tell you first about some Arizona experiences. In <br />1968, the Navajos agreed to limit water use on the part of their <br />reservation in the Upper Colorado River Basin to facilitate building a <br />huge coal burning power plant at Page. They were induced to do so by <br />promises of jobs for Navajos and increased tribal revenues from the <br />power plant. They agreed to limit their extensive claims to only <br />50.000 ac re feet a year for the lHe of the plant or fHty years, <br /> <br />- 9 - <br />