Laserfiche WebLink
<br />4137 <br /> <br />opinion which threatened the Animas-La Plata Project ("ALP"), the <br /> <br /> <br />lynch-pin of settlement. There is still hope that this decision <br /> <br /> <br />will be remedied; however, its appearance after six years of <br /> <br /> <br />negotiations is a lesson to all those who are about to engage on <br /> <br /> <br />the long and arduous process of negotiating Indian reserved <br /> <br /> <br />rights claims. <br /> <br />II. History of the Settlement <br />A. Federal Court Filings <br /> <br />Litigation commenced in 1972, when the United States <br />Department of Justice filed reserved water right claims on behalf <br />of the two Ute Indian Tribes in federal district court. The <br />State of Colorado and other parties intervened in this litiga- <br />tion, moving to dismiss on the grounds that, under the McCarran <br />Amendment (43 U.S.C. S 666), the Colorado District Court in and <br />for Water Division No.7 ("state water court") was the appropri- <br />ate court to quantify the Indian reserved right claims. After 4 <br />years of litigation the United States Supreme Court concurred and <br />ruled that: (1) the state water court was the appropriate forum <br />in which to litigate the Indian reserved water right claims; and <br />(2) the policy of the McCarran Amendment would be furthered if <br />quantification of the Indian reserved water right claims occurred <br />in state water court (Colorado River Water Conservation District <br /> <br />-3- <br />