11.2.25.030 Findings

The Council hereby finds and declares that:

(a) The Pueblo de San Ildefonso ("Pueblo") is a party in the federal water adjudication case of State v. Aamodt, U.S. District Court of New Mexico, No. 66CV6639, and 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"); and

(b) The Settlement Act requires the Secretary, acting through the Bureau of Reclamation ("Reclamation") to plan, design and construct a regional water system to divert and distribute water to four Pueblos and to Santa Fe County; and

(c) Section 611(c) of the Act provides that the Pueblos shall consent to easements and rights-of-way necessary for the construction of the Regional Water System at no cost to the United States, and the State of New Mexico and Santa Fe County, to the extent that they own such, shall provide land or interest in land as necessary for construction of the Regional Water System at no cost to the United States, and the Cost-Sharing and System Integration Agreement, as amended, states that the Parties will consent to easements and rights-of-way to the United States for the construction, use, operation, maintenance, repair and replacement of the Regional Water System; and

(d) The Pueblo understands and agrees that it will allow its lands to accommodate all facilities associated with the Regional Water System constructed within its boundaries as delineated in the project design documents; and

(e) The four Pueblos, Santa Fe County and Reclamation have determined that the grant of a formal easement or right-of-way to Reclamation for the planning, design, construction, and initial operation and maintenance phases of the Regional Water System will be time-consuming and is not necessary, and will substitute the formal grant of easement or right-of-way with a construction agreement that delineates construction corridors and other authorized activities within the exterior boundaries of the Pueblo; and

(f) The term of the Construction Agreement and the authorizations therein shall be for the period required for the planning, design, construction, and initial operation and maintenance of the Regional Water System, and will continue until the conveyance of the system after substantial completion of the project; and

(g) The Council, having reviewed a form of the Construction Agreement and exhibits thereto, finds approval of the Construction Agreement is in the best interest of this Pueblo.