WSPC02962

• File Number: 8064
• Description: Indian Water Rights
• State: CO
• Basin: San Juan/Dolores
• Date: 4/4/1986
• Title: Briefing Paper in Support of the Agreement in Principle of March 14, 1986
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Publication

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Introduction To Briefing Paper.
This briefing paper in support of the Agreement in Principle
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of March 14, 1986 is divided into five parts.

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Part One is a short summary of the Agreement in Principle.

Part Two describes how the Agreement in Principle carries
forth a 1968 national commitment to the Ute Indian Tribes and to
the States of Colorado and New Mexico to develop the Animas-
La Plata Project in Southwest Colorado and Northwest New Mexico
simultaneously with the construction of the substantially more
expensive Central Arizona Project.

Part Three discusses the history of the Ute Indian
Reservations in Colorado and the long and difficult effort
undertaken by the United States, the Ute Indians, the State of
Colorado and neighboring non-Indian citizens to quantify and
resolve the Tribes' federal Winters rights water claims which
attach to virtually all of the rivers of Southwest Colorado.

Part Four addresses the substantial up-front financing/cost
sharing commitments undertaken by the Tribes, the State of
Colorado, and the non-Indian water users of Southwestern Colorado"
and Northwestern New Mexico. These commitments will be shown to
be reasonable and fair when compared with cost sharing
requirements currently being imposed on other settlements and
water resources projects.

Part Five summarizes the separate breach of trust and
contract claims which the two Tribes and local water users have
against the United States. These substantial legal claims arise
out of the improper use of, and failure to protect, the Ute
Tribes' water rights by the United States during the period
1945-1985.

PART ONE

A Summary of the Agreement in Principle of March 14, 1986.

The State of Colorado, the Ute Mountain Ute Indian Tribe,
the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and non-Indian water users in
Southwest Colorado have agreed in the Agreement in Principle to a
comprehensive and final settlement of the Ute Tribes' Winters
rights claims to water in Southwest Colorado. The Agreement in
Principle resolves the long standing Winters rights claims of the
Ute Mountain Ute and Southern Ute Indian Tribes by recognizing
the Tribal rights and providing the Tribes with the physical and
financial resources to put those rights to use.

The settlement provided for in the Agreement in Principle
avoids costly and divisive litigation over the nature and extent
of these Indian water rights. Further, the settlement provides