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<br />OG1744 <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />While federal legislation is required to implement certain <br />provisions of the Agreement and of the Binding Cost Sharing <br />Agreement for the Animas-La Plata Project of June 30. 1986, S. <br />1415 is not a legislative settlement of the Tribes' reserved <br />water rights claims. Unlike other Indian water rights <br />settlement legislation which has been enacted by Congress, S. <br />1415 does not provide for a legislative quantification of the <br />Tribes' reserved water rights or a legislative definition of <br />the parameters of the Tribes' reserved water rights. <br /> <br />Rather, it is the Colorado District Court for Water <br />Division No. 7 which has jurisdiction. pursuant to the McCarran <br />Amendment, to decree and vest in the Tribes the Indian reserved <br />water rights to which the parties have agreed. Thus, the bill <br />before you is a much narrower expression of Congressional <br />involvement than has been the case in the previous settlements. <br />which were entirely creatures of an act of congress. <br /> <br />Summary of S. 1415 <br /> <br />A summary of the bill as introduced is attached. The main <br />purposes of the bill are as follows: <br /> <br />(1) The Tribes are to receive water rights to water <br />supplied from the Animas-La Plata and Dolores <br />Projects. To effect this part of the Agreement, the <br />bill: <br /> <br />(a) Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior <br />("Secretary") to use the project to provide water <br />to the Tribes, <br /> <br />(b) Provides for certain deferrals of costs that <br />would otherwise be borne by the Tribes pending <br />their use of project water. and <br /> <br />(c) Provides that federal reclamation laws shall not <br />apply to the project reserved waters supplied to <br />the Tribes except to the extent that those laws <br />may also apply to the Tribes' other reserved <br />waters. The purpose of this provision is to <br />insure that project reserved waters are not <br />treated differently, except as provided for in <br />the Agreement. than the other reserved waters of <br />the Tribes simply because a reclamation project <br />is the source of the water. <br /> <br />(2) Section 5(a) authorizes each Tribe. subject to the <br />Secretary's approval, to enter into water use <br />contracts to sell. exchange. lease. or otherwise <br />temporarily dispose of water in accordance with <br />Article V of the Agreement. Section 5(b) sets forth <br /> <br />-2- <br />