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<br />" <br />c.7J <br />~I <br /> <br />7 <br /> <br />..... <br />i" <br /> <br />satisfaction of the cost sharing requirements of chapter IV of <br />Public Law 99-88, 99 Stat. 293, 319-320. This agreement provided <br />the basis for the Colorado ute Indian Water Rights Final <br />Settlement Agreement, dated December 10, 1986 (Settlement <br />Agreement), which contemplates delivery of the tribes' full water <br />supply from the Animas-La Plata Project by the year 2000. The <br />Settlement Agreement was endorsed by Congress in the Colorado ute <br />Indian Water Rights Settlement Act of 1988, 102 Stat. 2973, <br />(Settlement Act) and initial appropriations have been made by <br />Congress. <br /> <br />The Jicarilla Apache Tribe and the united States have been <br />engaged in lengthy litigation to establish the quantities of <br />water to which the tribe is entitled. Recently, in accordance <br />with federal policy, the tribe has participated in extensive <br />negotiations to resolve the issues surrounding the full extent of <br />its water rights. The Department of the Interior has been a key <br />participant in those discussions which have focused on providing <br />the tribe with a water supply from the Basin. <br /> <br />The Department of Interior intends to use its authority to the <br />fullest extent possible to preserve and protect the water <br />resources of the tribes in the Basin. A goal of the <br />Implementation Program is to conserve the listed fish in the <br />Basin while meeting the Department's trust responsibilities to <br />the tribes. <br /> <br />1.7 WATER RIGHTS <br /> <br />Nothing in this Implementation Program shall be construed to <br />affect the right to use water under any federal or state law or <br />permit, federal contract, treaty, interstate compact or the right <br />of any party in any adjudication proceeding to determine rights <br />to use water or to contract for water. <br /> <br />The Indian Tribes do not recognize that their water rights are <br />limited by any agreement that the States have made to apportion <br />water in the Colorado River Basin, including the Upper Colorado <br />River Basin Compact (63 Stat. 3l). Therefore, the participation <br />in the Memorandum or the Implementation Program by any Indian <br />tribe shall not waive any tribe's claim to water in excess of any <br />allocation to any particular State or be deemed to bind any tribe <br />to the terms of any agreement to which it is not a party. The <br />parties to the Memorandum of Understanding and this <br />Implementation Program disagree as to whether or not the Indian <br />tribes have water rights which are limited by or subject to any <br />agreement among the States to apportion the waters of the <br />Colorado River basin, including the Upper Colorado River Basin <br />compact. Nothing in the Memorandum of Understanding or this <br />document shall be deemed to be a recognition or acceptance of any <br />such claims by any party hereto or be deemed to establish or <br />