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<br />. <br /> <br />STATE OF COLORADO <br /> <br />Colorado Water Conservation Board <br /> <br />Department of Natural Resources <br />1313 Shennan Street, Room 721 <br />Denver, Colorado 80203 <br />Phone: (303) 866-3441 <br />FAX: (03) 866-4474 <br />www.cwcb.state.co.us <br /> <br /> <br />April 15, 2002 <br /> <br />Bill Owens <br />Governor <br /> <br />Greg E. Walcher <br />Executive Director <br /> <br />Mr. Ken Beck <br />U.S. Bureau of Reclamation <br />Western Colorado Area Office <br />835 East 2nd Avenue, Suite 300 <br />Durango, Colorado 81301-5475 <br /> <br />Rod Kuharich <br />CWCB Director <br /> <br />Dan McAuliffe <br />Deputy Director <br /> <br />Dear Ken: <br /> <br />Thank you for the opportunity to review and comment on the advance draft of the <br />Environmental Impact Statement for the Re-operation of Navajo Dam (ADEIS) dated January 25, <br />2002. Our detailed comments are attached and focus primarily on water and water related areas. <br />These comments should be considered in addition to the ones we provided on December 21, 200 I. <br />However, we would like to call specific attention to the following major areas of concern. <br /> <br />Indian Trust Assets <br /> <br />The Colorado River Compact and Upper Colorado River Compact must be added to the legal <br />citations impacting the Navajo Indian Irrigation Project (NllP) and all projects benefiting any <br />Tribe. The authorizations cited do not mean much without them. These are laws that the <br />United States have agreed to and which place certain limitations on the extent of any tribal <br />claim (i.e. a tribe's claims must fit within a state's compact apportionment). Furthennore, the <br />Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project cannot be completed without resolving the Colorado <br />River Compact and Upper Colorado River Compact issues associated with the use of Upper <br />Colorado River Basin water in the Lower Colorado River Basin. We believe the compacts <br />place restrictions on the export and use of water from one basin to the other. Lastly, we <br />believe that the settlement agreements with the Colorado Ute Tribes and the Jicarilla Apache <br />Nation place limitations on the ability of those Tribes to market their water that must be <br />included in the ADEIS. <br /> <br />Authorized Purposes of Navajo Dam and Reservoir <br /> <br />The federally authorized project purposes are described in Section I of the Colorado River <br />Storage Project Act of 1956 (P.L. 84-485). The authorizations described therein are the <br />primary ones and should be the only ones listed in Table I-I. Federally authorized project <br />purposes should not be confused with compliance type laws as compliance type laws do not <br />change or add to the authorized project purposes. If a conflict between the authorized project <br /> <br />Flood Protection. Water Supply Planning and Finance. Stream ami Lake Prolection <br />Water Supply Protection. Conservation and Drought Planning <br /> <br />00706 <br />