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<br />001135 <br /> <br />the cost of the Project. The price which was paid was within the ability of our citizens to <br />repay. Included within the group of our potential customers is the City of Durango as <br />well as the District's own plans to construct a rural domestic water system in western <br />LaPlata County. The cost of water from the Animas-LaPlata Project is the most critical <br />element in providing both of these systems with a water supply. Any significant increase <br />in the cost of project water over and above that already committed will seriously <br />jeopardize the ability of either entity to continue participating. It is absolutely essential <br />that the costs associated with constructing the Animas-LaPlata Project resulting from <br />reliance on the 638 Process and resulting from the Bureau's omissions in estimating the <br />cost of the Project and changing project facilities without considering the cost <br />implications should not be borne by the non-Indian Project participants. <br /> <br />We must find ways to keep the cost to our District within the ability of our customers to <br />pay. I believe Commissioner Keys and the Department of the Interior are dedicated <br />today to taking every step they can to meet this need. Our. region in Colorado needs the <br />long-term security that stored water in this project will provide. I am optimistic that it <br />can happen. Significant progress can be made by assuring that the non-Indian <br />participants pay for their proportion of reasonable construction costs but that costs for <br />other purposes be appropriately assigned elsewhere. <br /> <br />We continue to support the completion of the project. We support the overall goal of <br />meeting the treaty commitments to the Colorado Ute tribes to provide a reliable supply of <br />water for their present and future needs, a promise dating from 1868. We support the <br />Bureau in continuing a well-reasoned use of the 638 process with the tribes in <br />constructing this project. We support fiscally responsible cost allocations. We stand <br />ready to support the mutual goals shared by our Native American friends, the San Juan <br />Water Commission of New Mexico, the State of Colorado, and the Bureau of <br />Reclamation, all in a well functioning partnership. <br /> <br />And we thank this Subcommittee for its dedication to these goals. <br />