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<br />Any future actions would be subject to future environmental review, and NEP A compliance would be <br />required as part of any approval by a federal agency. Future federal actions would serve as "triggers" for <br />future NEP A compliance activities, and could include future connection to a federal facility for water <br />conveyance enlargement or extension of certain existing conveyance systems, and, certain uses of a water <br />acquisition fund. In addition, other federal and state regulatory and environmental requirements would <br />have to be met in implementation of future actions (e.g., compliance with the ESA, Clean Water Act, <br />Colorado and New Mexico water laws). <br /> <br />The ALP Project <br /> <br />Reclamation proposes to develop a modified ALP Project in southwestern Colorado and northwestern <br />New Mexico for the purpose of implementing the Settlement Act. Since the ALP Project is intended to <br />provide stored water in lieu of the assertion of senior Tribal water rights claims, a majority of the <br />project's water supply is not targeted for specific near-term uses. Rather, the waters would be used in the <br />region over an indefinite period of time. The Colorado Ute Tribal M&I water uses are currently not <br />specified but were projected. Non-binding projected water uses, both on and off the Colorado Ute Tribal <br />reservations, were evaluated in order to provide possible uses and their associated impacts. Projections <br />were made of a range of potential future M&I uses for project water as a basis for developing alternatives <br />which would effectively provide water to meet these allocations. The scenarios for future water use were <br />based on reasonable estimates of regional growth and projected needs by the Colorado Ute Tribes, <br />Navajo Nation, the ALPWCD, and the SJWC. <br /> <br />The specific percentage allocation between the Colorado Ute Tribes and other project beneficiaries may <br />not be fixed. Comments received during scoping, and support for recently introduced legislation (i.e., <br />HR 3112 and S 2508) indicate that the Colorado Ute Tribes may agree to a reallocation of 6,0 I 0 acre-feet <br />per year (afy) to the State of Colorado and entities in New Mexico. This reallocation of some of the <br />Colorado Utes water does not change the environmental evaluation presented in the SEIS. Further, the <br />ALP Project would be operated to include conservation measures contained in the 2000 Biological <br />Opinion issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) (Service 2000a) in compliance with the <br />Endangered Species Act (ESA). Among other measures, this opinion limits average water depletions by <br />the project from the San Juan River Basin to 57,100 acre-feet per year (afy). <br /> <br />Under the ALP Project, the Colorado Ute Tribes would receive 79,050 afy (this represents 39,960 afy of <br />depletions from the San Juan River system). The future uses to which water may be put by the Colorado <br />Ute Tribes will be the subject of future NEP A review at the time the uses are determined and structural <br />components are designed to convey water to those uses. A projection of future water uses by the <br />Colorado Ute Tribes included the following types: <br /> <br />. Municipal <br />· Industrial park <br />· Recreation and tourism development <br />· Energy development <br />· Livestock and wildlife water use <br />· Regional municipal water supply <br />· Instream leasing of water <br /> <br />Table ES-l displays the allocation of water among the Colorado Ute Tribes and other project <br />participants. Under these allocations, the Colorado Ute Tribes would still be approximately 13,000 afy <br />short of the total quantity of depletion recognized in the Settlement Agreement. The Administration <br />Proposal, therefore, also includes a non-structural element that would establish and use a water <br />acquisition fund, which the Colorado Ute Tribes could use over time to acquire water rights on a willing <br /> <br />ES-4 <br />