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-\ COMMENTS OF THE COLORADO WATER CONSERVATION BOARD ON NAVAJO RESERVOIR OPERATIONS AnVANCF,n nRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL, IMPACT STATEMENT January 25,2002 Version Indian Trust Assets and Environmental Justice · Lines 78-80: Need to explain how Indian Water Rights are quantified, if not by beneficial use. They are quantified by practicably irrigable acres and domestic needs, which are in fact beneficial uses. They are constrained by interstate compacts as concluded in Arizona v. California, The United States Congress approved this limitation when it consented to the Upper Colorado River Compact. · Line 105: Need to note that the states do not necessarily agree with the Navajos claimed priority date. . Lines 107-1 10: As noted at line 34, the United States must approve of agreements that would adversely impact an Indian Trust Asset (IT A). We would add again that the United States Congress has consented to both the Colorado River Compact and Upper Colorado River Compact and therefore the Navajo claims must fit within a states compact apportionment as concluded in Arizona v. California. The Navajo may not pick and chose which laws of the United States they are impacted by, Therefore, while they may want to claim most all waters in the San Juan River, they are not entitled to such. This limitation needs to be included. . Line 13 I: "Certain" is misspelled. . Lines ]46-149: Given the constraints of the compacts, the states believe the Navajo claims may be limited to these projects. . Lines 154-] 64: Need to add the Colorado River Compact and Upper Colorado River Compact to the legal citations impacting the Navajo Indian Irrigation Project (NIIP), The laws cited do not mean much without them. We suggest at line ]54 stating, "Pursuant to the Colorado River Compact, the Upper Colorado River Compact and the Colorado River Storage Project Act, the Navajo Indian Irrigation Project was authorized concurrently with the San Juan-Chama Project in 1962 ..," It would also be good to know how many of these acres, if any, overlap the historically irrigated acres discussed in lines I 17 to 132, . Line 23]: Need to note that the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project can not be completed without resolving Colorado River Compact and Upper Colorado River Compact issues associated with the use of Upper Colorado River Basin water in the Lower Colorado River Basin. We believe the compacts place restrictions on the use of water from one basin in the other. We recommend that you have legal council investigate this matter before deciding on the exact words. . Lines 345-346: The settlement agreement with the Jicarilla Apache Nation we believe places limitations on the ability of the Jicarilla's to market their water. These limitations should be included in the ADE]S. . Line 353: Use of the word depletion seems to get used interchangeably with both diversion and consumptive use. We suggest making "depletion" a defined tem1 and o Page t of6 0013""} .. 0.