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<br />4117 <br />THE COLORADO UTE INDIAN WATER RIGHTS SETTLEMENT ACT OF 1987 <br />S. 1415 and H.R. 2642 <br /> <br />Introduction <br /> <br />The Colorado Ute Indian Water Rights Final Settlement <br />Agreement ("Agreement") of December 10. 1986. was entered into <br />by the Southern Ute Indian Tribe. Ute Mountain Ute Indian <br />Tribe. United States. State of Colorado. and ten other entities <br />representing water users in southwestern Colorado. It is the <br />culmination of two years of intensive negotiations by the <br />signatories thereto. <br /> <br />The reserved water-rights claims of the two Tribes would <br />have disrupted the established economy of the non-Indian water <br />users in southwestern Colorado had they been litigated. <br />Instead. a lasting and equitable settlement of the Tribes' <br />claims which does not harm non-Indian interests has been <br />achieved through compromise and accommodation. <br /> <br />Final Settlement Aqreement <br /> <br />The United States filed applications for reserved water <br />rights for the Tribes in 1976 in Colorado District Court for <br />Water Division No.7. The Colorado court has jurisdiction to <br />adjudicate these claims pursuant to the McCarren Amendment. <br /> <br />It is this litigation which the Agreement will bring to a <br />negotiated settlement. In essence. what the parties have done <br />is agree on the decree which they will ask the Colorado court <br />to enter. which decree will quantify water rights for the <br />Tribes and define the terms and conditions of their use and <br />administration. <br /> <br />The Agreement. a summary of which is attached. provides a <br />comprehensive settlement of the Tribes' claims for water which <br />will enable the economic development of their reservations. It <br />has six major components: <br /> <br />(1) The Tribes will receive specified amounts of water <br />from the Animas-La Plata and Dolores Projects and <br />additional rights to certain quantities of water from <br />various streams which pass through their reservations. <br /> <br />(2) The manner in which these water rights will be used <br />and administered is prescribed. <br /> <br />(3) In exchange for these water rights. the Tribes will <br />waive all of their reserved rights claims and any <br />claims which they may have against the United States <br />for breach of trust in the United States' capacity as <br />the Tribes' trustee. <br /> <br />Feb.. 1988 <br /> <br />6l95E <br />