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. t"'" lo1Q'j. thority from the Department of the Interior and the Department of Justice their responsi- bility to the Indians with regard to their rights or claims to natural resources; and au- thorize the Authority, acting in the name of the United States as trustee for the Indians, to initiate and prosecute to judgment and on appeal all legal actions, the cost of which would be paid by the United States, which the Authority considers necessary to carry out its responsibilities to the Indians. The Water Policy and Legislative Commit- tee of the Western States Water Council dis- cussed the proposed legislation at its meeting on September 11, 1970, and asked for an anal- ysis. Mr. Dale Walker, Deputy Attorney General for the State of New Mexico, re- viewed and analyzed the bill, and concluded that the proposed legislation carries greater risks than benefits to the Indian people, He also stated that every state water develop- ment agency could be subject to some law suit. The Subcommittee on Indian Affairs of the Senate Committee on Interior and Insu- lar Affairs held two days of hearings on the proposed legislation during the latter part of September 1970. On October 9, 1970, the Western States Water Council adopted a position opposing the Indian Trust Counsel Authority legisla- tion and directed its Executive Secretary to inform Congress of this position at the prop- er time, The board's 1969 Annual Report discusses a news article in which the Navajo Legal Services Agency, a Federal agency located on the Navajo Indian Reservation, was reported as recommending that the Navajo Indians in- stitute a class action to establish their right to the use of up to 10,000,000 acre-feet per year of water from the Colorado River. The Board is interested in the proposed Indian Trust Counsel Authority legislation because of its potential effect upon the Navajos instituting such an action. \ \, 46 PhotuclectroOlc Compo!Oirion by the Office of State Printing vc 82115-201 7-7\ 750