OCR Text |
Show lands in the Duchesne River area, depending on the priority of individual water rights, were in need of a supplemental supply, especially in the latter part of the irrigation season. The Duchesne River Area Study Committee summarized its studies, conclusions, and recommendations in a report dated April 1962.•'•^ O ^ he committee recommended ( 1) that the Indians agree to limit their development to the acreage set forth in the report; ( 2) that certain applications before the State Engineer to appropriate large quantities of water from the Duchesne River and tributaries be subordinated to water rights for the Central Utah Project, and ( 3) that the committee report mentioned above be accepted as a basis for planning the Central Utah Project development. Thus, the study committee report and recommendation became the basis for final planning of the Bonneville Unit in the Uintah Basin and the exportation of water to the Wasatch Front. They also became the basis for the Indian Deferral Agreement. Deferral Agreement with Indians On September 20, 1965, Contract No, 14- 06- W- 194 was executed among the United States ( Bureau of Reclamation and Bureau of Indian Affairs), the Ute Indian Tribe, and the Central Utah Water Conservancy District, In this agreement, the non- Indian parties recognized the Indian lands totaling 36,450 acres as served or to be served from the Duchesne River and the Indians agreed to defer development of 15,242 acres of nonirrigated land. On accepting this recommendation, tribal representatives emphasized that the development was being deferred, not abandoned. Although the deferral agreement with the Ute Tribe provides only for the deferral of irrigation of 15,242 acres of land involved with the Bonneville Unit, it is expected that similar land totaling 8,380 acres to be served from Lakefork River under the Upalco Unit and 5,496 acres to be served from the Uintah River under the Uintah Unit of the Central Utah Project would also be deferred. Agreements similar to the one for the Bonneville Unit would be negotiated with the Ute Tribe and the conservancy district for the Upalco and Uintah Units, Altogether, the Ute Indian Tribe would defer irrigation service for about 29,118 acres of land. This deferral agreement permits construction of the Bonneville Unit of the Central Utah Project without objection from the Ute Tribe or the Bureau of Indian Affairs. It was agreed that irrigation of Indian land would be deferred until development of the Ute Indian Unit of the ultimate 24 |