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Show Units of the Central Utah Project, which obligates completion of the entire Central Utah Project. ( b) There would be a temporary loss of benefits to the Indians associated with the delay in development of their resources. ( c) The quality of the replacement water would be inferior to the local supply that would be diverted. Issue raised by: Environmental Protection Agency State Department of Natural Resources Forest Service • and one individual Response: A history and analysis of the Indian Deferral Agreement and how it relates to the Bonneville Unit and other Units of the Central Utah Project is presented in the final statement. The discussion appears in Section A under the heading of Unit Water Rights and Contractual Commitments and in paragraph H3. An agreement among the Ute Indian Tribe, the Central Utah Water Conservancy District ( repayment contractor for Bonneville Unit), and the United States, acting through the Bureau of Reclamation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs was entered into on September 20, 1965. Among other things, the agreement provides for the deferment of certain Indian water rights so that construction could proceed on the Bonneville Unit of the Central Utah Project without objection from the Ute Tribe or the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Irrigation of 15,2* 4- 2 acres of Indian lands would be deferred until it could be replaced by other Units of the Central Utah Project to be constructed. This deferral doesn't in any way constitute an abandonment of the right and full replacement mast be accomplished by the year 2005. In the event that the Bonneville Unit is completed as proposed and other Units of the Central Utah Project are not completed sufficiently to supply the deferred Indian water rights by 2005, equitable adjustments would need to be made in Bonneville Unit water deliveries to permit the immediate Indian use of water as specified in the deferral demands. This would result in decreased diversion to the Bonneville Basin and a less efficient use of the Unit facilities. The resulting operation of the Unit would be similar to the alternative of partial construction based on the proposed plan with recommended fishery bypasses as discussed in paragraph H3- The Ute Indian Tribe and the Bureau of Indian Affairs recognize some temporary loss of benefits associated with the deferral agreement but are willing to forego these benefits in lieu of the total benefits they would receive from the total development. The Tribe would also 646 |
