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<br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />BACKGROUND <br /> <br />The Final Colorado Ute Indian Water Rights Settlement Agreement (Settlement Agreement) <br /> <br /> <br />was executed on December 10, 1986. The Settlement Agreement was signed by fifteen <br /> <br /> <br />different parties including the state of Colorado; the Ute Mountain Ute and Southern Ute <br /> <br /> <br />Indian Tribes; the Department of the Interior; the Department of Justice; the Animas-LaPlata, <br /> <br /> <br />Dolores, Florida, Mancos, and Southwestern Water Conservation Districts; the city of <br /> <br /> <br />Durango; the town of Pogosa Springs; the Florida Farmers Ditch Company; the Florida <br /> <br /> <br />Canal Company; and the Fairfield Communities, Inc. <br /> <br />On November 3, 1988, Congress enacted an Act to facilitate and implement the settlement <br />of the Colorado Ute Indian Reserved Water Rights claims in southwest Colorado and for <br />other purposes. The Act is referred to as the Colorado Ute Indian Water Right Settlement <br />Act of November 1988 (Settlement Act) (100 stat. 2973). The Settlement Act is the vehicle <br />to settle the federal reserved water rights claims of the Ute Mountain Ute and the Southern <br />Ute Indian Tribes. Included in the Settlement Act was a provision that the Final Settlement <br />Agreement was to be the basis upon which the Settlement Act would be implemented with <br />respect to the Tribes' water rights. The Settlement Act also requires that water from ALP <br />and the Dolores Project be delivered to the Tribes in accordance with the Settlement <br />Agreement. <br /> <br />The Cost Sharing Agreement divided construction of the Project into two phases, Phases I <br />and II. Further, the Settlement Agreement established a Tribal Development Fund. The <br />agreements also specify that the Tribes, under provisions of Federal law, could lease or <br />temporarily dispose of water to the extent also permitted by state and federal laws, <br />interstate compacts, and international treaties. In June 1988, Reclamation prepared a Special <br />Report> to explain how the Cost Sharing and Settlement Agreements would be <br />implemented. <br /> <br />Reclamation is currently developing a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) <br />and other studies to address a full array of environmental concerns now mandated by <br />federal law. These include impacts such as the Endangered Species requirements, Section <br /> <br />2 Special Report, Animas-La Plata Project, Colorado and New Mexico, June 1988, Bureau of Reclamation <br /> <br />2-3 <br />