Thomas Daschle: “today I am introducing the Oglala Sioux Tribe Angostura Irrigation Project Rehabilitation and Development Act. I have…”

“today I am introducing the Oglala Sioux Tribe Angostura Irrigation Project Rehabilitation and Development Act. I have worked with the leadership of the Oglala Sioux Tribe to develop this legislation, which is intended to benefit the Lakota people by restoring critical water resources and promoting economic development on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The Angostura Unit of the Bureau of Reclamation was first authorized by Congress under the Water Conservation and Utilization Act of 1939, and later continued under the Flood Control Act of 1944, otherwise known as the Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin Project. The program consisted primarily of building the six mainstem dams on the Missouri River, to be operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, along with several Bureau-operated irrigation and water development projects. The Angostura Unit was designed to provide irrigation to 12,218 acres of farm and ranch land in the Angostura Irrigation District, as well as flood control, fish, and wildlife benefits. Tribes in South Dakota existed long before the creation of the Bureau of Reclamation or the implementation of the water development projects in South Dakota today. Tribes therefore have a vested interest in the operation of these projects. While the projects have been helpful in meeting their authorized goals, they also contribute to adverse economic and environmental conditions on tribal reservations.”