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Show CHAPTER X 171 On January 8, 1973, Interior's Office of Indian Water Rights advised the Chairman of each of the Indian Tribal Councils of the proposed submittal of the draft stipulation by Interior to Justice. A followup letter of January 12, 1973, transmitted a revised draft of stipulation to the same parties, but, at the suggestion of California, pointed out "the most significant change as the addition of data listing the PPRs for the five Indian Reservations named in Article II(D) of the Decree by identifying the-number of irrigable acres within each State." Indicative of Interior's assumption that "...the Indian water rights on the lower Colorado River continue to be fully protected by Article II of the decree..." is the letter of February 26, 1973, from Acting Secretary of the Interior Whitaker to the Chemehuevi Tribe Council and attorneys. Nevertheless, in a letter of March 16, 1973, to Interior, the Confederation of Indian Tribes of the Colorado River made a strong protest and alleged that "the correct figures regarding their entitlement had not been supplied to the Supreme Court in 1954...." The Confederaton asked that no proposal be transmitted to Justice until after the correct figures are obtained; i.e., an enlargement of the Decree total entitlement of 905,496 acre-feet of water for 136,636 acres of land. Interior provided funds for the requested study (see the Deputy Solicitor's letter of March 21, 1973, and the Phoenix Area Office, BIA, letter of April 6, 1973, to the Confederation, which listed the acreages requiring study). L. Interior's Submittal of Draft Stipulation to Justice On April 12, 1973, Acting Secretary of the Interior Whitaker transmitted to Solicitor General Griswold, Department of Justice, the draft of proposed stipulation stating it "has been informally prepared with participation by all the parties in Arizona v. California" (see Appendix 1004 for its text). Interior's letter discussed the use of the dual limitation for Federal establishments, the various districts' hydrological positions, the fact that the major PPR claims for irrigation in the proposed stipulation are stated in terms of a single diversion figure and not the dual limitation, the fact that the PPR claims for M&I uses are stated in terms of a dual limitation, and a tabulation comparing the rights claimed by the parties in 1967 and in the proposed stipulation. A copy of the tabulation follows: MAJOR PRESENT PERFECTED RIGHTS CLAIMS Claimed in filings with Now proposed for a the Supreme Court stipulated (acre-feet) settlement* U.S. California Imperial Irrigation District 2,806,000 Palo Verde Irrig. Dist. 208,100 Reservation Division (Bard Dist.) 39,561* 42,325 Valley Division, Yuma Project 299,852* North Gila Valley Unit Yuma Mesa Div., Gila Proj. 31,994* Yuma Auxiliary Project (Unit B) 6,801* Indian Res. - Arizona5 761,562* Arizona Acre-feet Priority Date 2,600,000* 1901 219,780* 1877 38,270* 7-8-05 279,378" 254,200' 1901 31,840' 24,500' 7-8-05 7,350' 6,800' 7-8-05 761,562' various |
