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<br />Animas
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<br />From Page One
<br />opinion, "any further depletions to ' '
<br />the river system could render the
<br />San ~uan River unuseable by the
<br />Colorado squawfish."
<br />Buterbaugh said there may be.
<br />some flexibility in the way Navajo
<br />and Animas.La Plata would oper-
<br />ate that could provide more water
<br />in the San Juan at critical times of,
<br />the year for the squawfish, but that
<br />hasn't been demonstrated yet.
<br />"That's why this is a dran opin-
<br />ion," he added. "We're willing to
<br />work with others agencies to come
<br />up with other alternatives."
<br />A final opinion is due in 30 to 60
<br />days, he said.
<br />
<br />If the project is halted, it's not
<br />clear what will happen to the ute
<br />Indian Settlement Agreement ap-
<br />proved in 1986 in connection with
<br />the Animas-La Plata project.
<br />Under that agreement, the state
<br />of Colorado and the United States
<br />agreed to provide water and mon-
<br />ey to the Southern utes and the
<br />
<br />"::' 'I'"~ . , " .
<br />
<br />" "'%E VAIL! 5:-,-",,,,,,-"1....
<br />
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<br />Ute Mountain Utes in exchange for
<br />them droppingcentury-old claims
<br />,to water in rivers of southwestern
<br />Colorado.
<br />Colorado has already spent $ll
<br />million to pay for an agreement
<br />hammered out with the two ute
<br />tribes, said Bill McDonald, direc-
<br />tor of the Colorado Water Conser-
<br />vation Board, It's not clear what
<br />would happen to that money if the
<br />project is killed,
<br />"At an absolute minimum, this
<br />will be very disruptive of the set-
<br />'tlement agreement, which was
<br />painstakingly developed over the
<br />last five years," said McDonald,
<br />
<br />"I'm greatly concerned about the
<br />'problems the department (of Inte-
<br />rior) has created, The department
<br />has responsibilities in addition to
<br />protecting endangered species,
<br />such as the Indian trust."
<br />
<br />The state already has spent more
<br />than $6 million for a domestic wa-
<br />ter pipeline from Cortez to the ute
<br />Mountain Ute reservation in
<br />
<br />s ~7 -'10
<br />
<br />Towac, McDonald said, "That's
<br />money in the ground. There's no l'
<br />way to get it back." . ,
<br />In addition, the state has paid $5
<br />million into tribal development,
<br />funds - part of a total .of $60 mil- ,
<br />lion due from the state and federal
<br />government. The federal agency,'
<br />has paid $15 million to date.
<br />Also, the state has made $200,000
<br />worth of payments to the federal
<br />government for part of its cost-
<br />sharing agreement on Animas-La,
<br />Plata, payments that are to eventu-
<br />ally total $5.6 million.
<br />. Also, it has put $30 million into
<br />an escrow account for the project,
<br />McDonald said. The cost-sharing
<br />money plus the $30 million is mon-
<br />ey the state can probably get back
<br />if the project dies, he added.
<br />Meanwhile, a pair of environ-
<br />mental groups, the Sierra Club and
<br />National Wildlife Federation,
<br />hailed the decision Tuesday, say-
<br />ing the fish problem "is just the
<br />last in a long line of problems with
<br />this project."
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