11.2.20.030 Findings

The Council hereby finds and declares that:

(a) The Pueblo de San Ildefonso is a party in the federal water adjudication case of State v. Aamodt.

(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 four Pueblos of Nambé, Pojoaque, San Ildefonso and Tesuque that are parties to the Aamodt case signed the Settlement Agreement conformed to the Act on March 14, 2013, together with the other four governments affected by the Act.

(d) The Settlement Act provides for the construction of a regional water system for the treatment and distribution of drinking water to the residents of the Pojoaque Basin.

(e) The U.S Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) has proposed a PBRWS pilot study for the treatment processes for the proposed Water Treatment Plant to ensure safe reliable treated drinking water. The pilot study would include a testing plan consisting of a subsurface raw water intake (Ranney-type well), microfiltration/ ultrafiltration (MF/UF) membrane filtration, nanofiltration (NF) membrane demineralization, disinfection, and solids/liquid residuals handling.

(f) The BOR provided information about the proposed Pilot Water Treatment Plant Study via the Pilot Testing Plan, Pojoaque Basin Regional Water System (PBRWS), Contract No. R17PC00023.

(g) The Council, having reviewed the Pilot Testing Plan, Pojoaque Basin Regional Water System (PBRWS), Contract No. R17PC00023, finds approval of the pilot water treatment plant testing plan in the best interest of the Pueblo to support the implementation of the Aamodt water settlement and construction of the PBRWS.