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<br />I~T' <br /> <br />" <br /> <br />, ' <br /> <br /> <br />Record of Decision <br /> <br />Animas-La Plata Project/Colorado Ute Indian Water Rights Settlement <br /> <br />United States Department of the Interior <br />Bureau of Reclamation <br /> <br />1. Introduction <br /> <br />In 1988, Congress enact~d th~ Colorado Ute Indian Water Rights Settlement Act of 1988 (1988 <br />Settlement). In committing the United States to this settlement, Congress agreed that resolution of <br />the Colorado Ute Tribes' water rights claims would be accomplished by building a large water <br />proj~ctto supply water to the Colorado Ute Tribes-the Animas-La Plata Project(ALP). In addition <br />to satisfying the Tribal water needs to effectuate a settlement, however, the original ALP was sized <br />to provide a significant new water supply for agricultural and municipal use. <br /> <br />The 1988 Settlement has not been implemented. Specifically, the original project was not <br />constructed because this Department, and many other parties, raised serious concerns regarding the <br />environmental consequences of building the project. These consequences included a large diversion <br />from the Animas River which would violate Endangered Species Act(ESA) requirements and water <br />quality impacts associated with amajor new non-Indian irrigation project in the Four Corners region. <br /> <br />Although the original ALP raised serious environmental issues, the Department of the Interior has <br />recognized the imperative offulfilling the water rights of the Southern Ute Indian and Ute Mountain <br />Ute Tribes. The United States has a trust responsibility to seek final resolution of the tribal water <br />rights. In addition, failure to resolve the Colorado Ute Tribe's water rights has the potential to <br />destabilize the exercise of water rights by junior, non-Indian water rights holders in Colorado and <br />New Mexico. <br /> <br />Accordingly, in 1998, the Department recommended construction of a substantially scaled-down <br />ALP that was designed to satisfy the Colorado Ute Tribes' water rights. The proposal down-sized <br />the project to comply with ESA requirements. It excluded non-Indian irrigation systems to address <br />water quality concerns. In addition, the Department called for the completion of a supplemental <br />environmental review of the smaller ALP along with potential non-structural alternatives that were <br />being proposed to implement the Colorado Ute Tribes' water rights settlement. This review would <br />ensure full compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEP A) and provide decision- <br />makers a sound basis for making a final decision. <br /> <br />The supplemental environmental review has been completed. The Department is now prepared to <br />issue a Record of Decision (ROD) in this matter, and it is doing so through this document. As <br />explained in detail below, the Department is selecting Refined Alternative 4 (RA4), which is the <br /> <br />I <br />