Laserfiche WebLink
<br />IV. Legislation <br /> <br />A. Federal Legislation <br /> <br />After great debate and renegotiation with both the federal <br /> <br />gavernment and other western states, the "Colarado Ute Indian <br /> <br />Water Rights Settlement Act of 1988" became law in November 1988, <br /> <br />(102 stat. 2973). With this legislation Congress fulfilled many <br /> <br />federal legislative requirements of the Final Settlement Agree- <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />ment. This legislation: <br /> <br />(1) authorized the use of the Animas-La <br />Plata and Dolores Projects to supply <br />reserved water to the Tribes in accordance <br />with the Final Settlement Agreement: <br /> <br />(2) waived the provisions of the Indian <br />Nonintercourse Act (25 U.S.C.177) thereby <br />allowing the tribe to alienate their water <br />rights without congressional approval: <br /> <br />(3) waived or deferred repayment of tribal <br />reclamation project costs: <br /> <br />',- <br /> <br />(4) established a $60.5 million tribal <br />development fund and provided a funding <br />schedule for payment of these monies; <br /> <br />"c_ <br /> <br />, <br />":; <br /> <br />(5) waived selected provisions of recla- <br />mation law; and <br /> <br />~l: ; <br /> <br />(6) directed the Secretary of the Interior <br />to comply with the administration agreement <br />in the Final Settlement Agreement. <br /> <br />.'..\ <br />': I <br /> <br />Not surprisingly, one of the critical elements renegotiated <br /> <br />in Congress was off-reservation use of tribal waters. Congress <br /> <br />prahibited the tribes from litigating the off-reservation ques- <br /> <br />-11- <br />