FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 16, 1998
CONTACT: Christopher M. Changery
(202)224-2251

CAMPBELL SENDS ANIMAS LA PLATA BILL TO THE FULL SENATE

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs today unanimously approved Chairman Ben Nighthorse Campbell's bill to fulfill the federal government's treaty obligation to two Colorado Indian tribes.

The Colorado Ute Indian Water Rights Settlement Act Amendments of 1998 would authorize the construction of a water project to serve the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute Tribes. It is a compromise of a larger project first authorized in 1988. The committee added to the bill the text of a second bill authorizing a water project for the Rocky Boy Reservation in Montana.

"At the committee hearing in June, the administration was in favor of the Montana bill but not Animas La Plata, even though the two projects are almost identical," Campbell said. "I suspect their opposition to Animas La Plata is based more on politics than substance.

Campbell said the administration is being dishonest with the tribes by trying to bog down ALP with additional and redundant environmental studies. Campbell's bill states that the studies of the original, larger project are enough.

"The administration wants to look like they are doing something for the Indians. But, if they succeed in starting the environmental compliance process all over again, their friends at the Sierra Club will stop the project.

"The clock is ticking on this project," Campbell said. "If it is not completed by the year 2000 the tribes will go to court to pursue their senior water rights in many of the rivers and streams in southwest Colorado. There will be years of costly litigation involving the federal government, the State of Colorado, and water rights holders throughout the region, making the cost of building this project look like a bargain in comparison. Everyone has heard of the `Year 2000 problem' that will cause computers to fail. This is southwest Colorado's `Year 2000 problem.'"