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. . Colorado Congressional Delegation/Maynes Page 6 May 4, 1990 squawfish stocking pursuant to Paragraph 5. In the response to a telephone call from Sam Maynes, the District's attorney, to Reed Harris, Bureau Office, Salt Lake City, a copy of which is attached as Exhibit "F," it is clear that at least four other squawfish stockings have taken place. The stocking proce- dures could have allowed the introduction of endangered fish into the San Juan River after the 1962 killing of "trash fish." IV. Promise to Colorado Ute Tribes. Through a long and difficult negotiations process undertaken with good will and determination, the I ndians and non-I ndians of southwest Colorado were able to conclude a Final Settlement Agreement which resolves the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute Tribes' reserved water rights claims. The Ser- vice's intransigent stance threatens to go back on commitments made by the federal signers of the Final Settlement Agreement. The Tribes have been patient and have trusted the honorable intentions of those in the government who have pledged to protect their interests and to help them develop their tribal resources through wise storage and fair distribution of the waters of rivers that should serve their reservations and their people. If water proj- ects elsewhere have been approved, why not this one? Did not the United States Government promise that after the studies were completed, construction would begin? Indian people are not strangers to broken treaties and prom- ises. The Southern Ute Indian Tribe entered into the settlement negotiations in good faith and with honor. The Service's position does not comport with the commitment of the federal government. V. Impact on Non-Indian Water Users in Southwestern Colorado. As a result of the thousands of hours of diligent effort by hundreds of people at all levels of government, the Colorado Ute Indian Water Rights Settlement Agreement was executed on December 10, 1986. This agreement will avoid litigation which could have taken years, caused enormous uncer- tainties about water rights, cost millions of dollars, and pitted Indians against their non-Indian neighbors. Such litigation would most certainly have ad- versely affected the development of both the Indian and non-Indian economies in southwestern Colorado and created bitterness and distrust between the Indians and their non-Indian neighbors. The people who live and work in southwestern Colorado have long taken pride in the relationship with their Indian friends and neighbors and our neighbors in New Mexico, and are proud of the settlement to resolve the area dispute over water. The Service's stance in the Section 7 consultation for the Animas-La Plata Project will endanger the livelihood of non-Indians in southwestern Colorado and endanger their good relationship with their Indian neighbors. We, there- fore, ask your help to get the construction schedule for the Animas-La Plata out of the Section 7 morass and back on track. The Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute Indian Tribes deserve all due consideration for the construction