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r---m 1 2 III. AUTHORITIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES A. Trust Responsibilities The reservations of four federally recognized Indian tribes are located within the Basin. The four tribes have reserved water rights under Federal law, most of which have not been quantified, to provide water to the reservations for use as permanent homelands. The Secretary has a trust responsibility to assert and protect the trust water resources of the tribes. With regard to three of the four tribes, there currently are specific Federal plans for the partial development of tribal water resources. Under the Act of June 13, 1962, 76 Stat. 96, Congress authorized, among other things, the construction of the Navajo Indian Irrigation Project (NIIP) to benefit the Navajo Nation. Based on congressional actions, six of the NIIP's 11 blocks have been fully constructed and Congress has consistently provided annual appropriations for NIIP's completion. On June 30, 1986, the Under Secretary of the Interior signed an agreement which established the principles for settlement of the reserved water right claims of the Southern Utes and Ute Mountain Utes and the financial arrangements for the settlement and for the construction of the ALP. The non federal cost sharing commitments contained in the agreement were in satisfaction of the cost sharing requirements of chapter IV of Public Law 99-88, 99 Stat. 293, 319-320. This agreement provided the basis for the Colorado Ute Indian Water Rights Final Settlement Agreement, dated December 10, 1986 (Settlement Agreement), which contemplates delivery of the tribes' full water supply from the ALP by the year 2000. The Settlement Agreement was endorsed by Congress in the Colorado Ute Indian Water Rights Settlement Act of 19B8, 102 Stat. 2973, (Settlement Act) and initial appropriations have been made by Congress. The Jicaril1a Apache Tribe and the United States have been engaged in lengthy litigation to establish the quantities of water to which the tribe is entitled. Recently, in accordance with Federal policy, the tribe has participated in extensive negotiations to resolve the issues surrounding the full extent of its water rights. The Department of the Interior (Department) has been a key participant in those discussions which have focused on providing the tribe with a water supply from the Basin. The Department intends to use its authority to the fullest extent possible to preserve and protect the water resources of the tribes in the Basin. A goal of the Program is to conserve the listed fish in the Basin while meeting the Department's trust responsibilities to the tribes.