| OCR Text |
Show ( 3) The use cf water from the Duchesne River and its tributaries in the Bonneville Unit area will be subject to a river headgate diversion allowance of k acre- feet per acre annually and shall be delivered generally in accordance with an ideal demand curve. This will permit the lands served by the Midview Exchange to receive k acre- feet per acre from the Duchesne River rather than 3 acre- feet per acre from Lakefork River. ( k) The agreement provides that all phases of the Central Utah Project be diligently pursued to satisfy all Indian water rights at the earliest possible date. The Indian Deferral Agreement is essential to any development plans involving interbasin transfer of water or any further non- Indian development in the Uinta Basin. Also, it could be the key to the full development of the Indian water rights through other units of the Central Utah Project. This agreement was negotiated en the basis of cooperation and in a spirit of brotherhood, to allow a systematic development for the benefit of all. The terms of the agreement must be honored by all parties or the contract would be invalidated. The alternative studies of partial construction are in two categories: those without a minimum flow for fishery purposes and those with a minimum flow for fishery purposes. The State Division of Wildlife Resources recommended flows for fishery purposes were used in these alternatives because they were higher or more restrictive than other studies. These recommended flows would result in an additional reduction in flow to the enlarged Strawberry Reservoir of about 2^, 300 acre- feet annually. The recommended minimum flows for fishery purposes of the U. S. Forest Service and the Utah State Division of Wildlife Resources and their effects on the yield of Strawberry Reservoir are given in Table H- 8. Once the transbasin diversion flows are decreased, two major impacts would result. The repayment contract between the United States and the Central Utah Water Conservancy District would have to be renegotiated to reflect reduced benefits and repayment. The Indian Deferral Agreement would have to be amended. Both the Conservancy District and the Ute Indian Tribe have gone on record as opposing any changes which would reduce benefits to their respective entities, and consequently, such negotiations would be extremely difficult. As previously explained, the " Winters Doctrine" places the Indians in a preferential position on available water on the reservation. Water released for fish flows in the nonirrigation season would not benefit the Indians, and the Tribe would be expected to claim full allowance from the remaining supplies> thusy the water supply available for development would be substantially reduced by committing fish flows. 556 |
