11.2.12.010 Findings
(a) The Pueblo is a party in the federal water adjudication State v. Aamodt, U.S. District Court of New Mexico No 66CV6639;
(b) In 2010, the United States enacted the Aamodt Litigation Settlement Act, as part of the Claims Resolution Act of 2010, Pub. L. No. 11-291, Title VI, §§ 601-626, 124 Stat. 3064, 3134-56 (2010), which was signed into law by the President on December 8, 2010 ("Settlement Act" or "Act").
(c) The parties revised the Settlement Agreement (April 19, 2012) ("Revised Agreement") to reflect the terms of the Settlement Act, prepared Waivers consistent with the Act, and completed the Cost Sharing and System Integration Agreement ("CSSIA") as required by the Act.
(d) The Council after due consideration approved the Revised Agreement, the Waivers and the CSSIA on behalf of the Pueblo in Resolution No. SI-R12-035.
(e) Section 3.4 of the CSSIA, "Pueblo de San Ildefonso Consideration" in subsection (b) states "the diversion and connected facilities shall be located as specified by the Pueblo de San Ildefonso, consistent with the Engineering Report, or other suitable alternatives.
(f) Bureau of Reclamation has issued a draft river diversion and water treatment plant location options binder for the Pojoaque Basin Regional Water System project.
(g) The Tribal Council and its water committee received a presentation on April 20, 2014, (PowerPoint attached) from the Bureau of Reclamation concerning the options for diversion and water treatment.
(h) Option 9 calls for a diversion through "Radial Galleries," sometimes called Ranney Wells or Horizontal Collector Wells, on the east side of the Rio Grande and a water treatment plant to be located adjacent to Highway 101D, North of Highway 502, near the Pueblo's eastern boundary.
(i) The Pueblo de San Ildefonso Tribal Council, by Resolution No. SI-R13-040 in 2013, designated Option 9 "East Radial Gallery and WTP (Water Treatment Plant) near Highway 101(D)" as its selected option for the locations of the surface water diversion and water treatment plant for the Pojoaque Basin Regional Water System Project.
(j) Reclamation has developed another option for collecting water from the Rio Grande using an infiltration type of water collection system in the space approved by the Pueblo involving large perforated pipes running parallel with the Rio Grande.
(k) Reclamation needs Pueblo approval for disposal of water coming from both (a) the pilot water treatment plant and (b) up to ten test holes connected with determining the best locations for a possible infiltration system.
(l) Water from the pilot water treatment plant, in an amount of up to 72,000 gallons (0.2 acre-feet) per day, will be treated to drinking water standards, and Reclamation requests to deliver this water for Pueblo irrigation purposes during some of the summer months of the current irrigation season.
(m) The water produced will be delivered by water truck to locations (acequias) specified by the Pueblo for irrigation.
(n) The testing will generate up to 100 gallons of water per minute for at least 2 hours per hold or approximately 12,000 gallons per hole.
(o) The water generated will be discharged on the ground near each test hole.
(p) The amount of water to be produced from initial tests of the holes is similar to a rainfall and will percolate into the soil.
(q) Reclamation requests to purchase some water from the Pueblo to assist in drilling the test holes described above, the amount of water needed is estimated at 1,000 gallons a day for approximately 5 to 10 days.
(r) Reclamation requests to obtain water from an existing old steel-cased well located to the northeast of the pilot Ramney well and should this location be unacceptable, another option would be to obtain water from a Pueblo storage tank or fire hydrant and truck it to the site, the payment for water is yet to be determined.
(s) These water uses will strengthen the ability of Pueblo people to irrigate during the current drought condition, and support wildlife in the bosque, which makes these uses in the best interest of the Pueblo.
