Jeff Bingaman: “In 1988, Congress passed legislation endorsing a settlement of Indian water rights for the southern Ute and Ute Mountain…”

“In 1988, Congress passed legislation endorsing a settlement of Indian water rights for the southern Ute and Ute Mountain Indian Tribe which had been agreed to by the Departments of Justice and Interior, the two tribes, and the State of Colorado and the State of New Mexico. But that 1988 legislation envisioned an Animas-La Plata River Project that would meet a number of regional water needs, including the water for the Navajo Nation and the non-Indian communities. The project envisioned by that legislation has proven infeasible to implement in terms of the cost and also in terms of the environmental consequences, but the need to settle these water rights and live up to the national commitment to these two tribes remains. The two Ute tribes and their neighbors within the San Juan basin have developed a revamped water allocation for a downsized Animas project which the Ute tribes will agree to as a settlement of their water rights.”