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<br />opportunities exist, and over thirty years adequate amounts of water to meet the settlement <br />obligation to the Tribes will be available. <br /> <br /> <br />Some of the water to be acquired would be water associated with existing water projects, <br /> <br />including several, such as the Florida and the Dolores, in which the Southern Ute and Ute <br /> <br /> <br />Mountain Ute Tribes respectively now hold rights. To the extent that water rights were acquired <br /> <br /> <br />in these projects, they would be stored for appropriate use, accomplishing one of the expressed <br /> <br /> <br />objectives of the tribal leadership. This approach would also, unlike ALP, deliver water to the <br /> <br /> <br />reservations. <br /> <br /> <br />2. Water Available Through Existing Projects <br /> <br /> <br />A number of reclamation projects already exist in the area of the Ute Mountain Ute and <br /> <br /> <br />Southern Ute reservations. Several measures are available to increase the effective yield of these <br /> <br /> <br />projects without impact to existing beneficiaries. <br />To the extent that construction or rehabilitation measures are necessary, these <br />opportunities should be used to provide employment opportunities and other economic benefits to <br />the Ute Tribes. Existing projects may also furnish opportunities for the Ute Tribes to explore joint <br />ventures with their non-Indian neighbors, such as water leasing arrangements. <br />(a) Vallecito Reservoir. <br />Up to 45,000 acre feet of water could be made available in Vallecito Reservoir, on the <br />Pine River north of the Southern Ute Reservation. Refer to Figure 1. The Southern Ute Tribe <br />currently holds one sixth of the water rights in Vallecito. The irrigation system in this area consists <br />mostly ofun1ined canals, and could be made more efficient. This would free up sufficient water to <br />satisfy a substantial portion of the obligation to the Southern Ute Tribe, without disrupting the <br /> <br />6 <br />