11.2.26.030 Findings

The Council hereby 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, State and Santa Fe County shall consent to easements and rights-of-way necessary for the construction use, operation, maintenance, repair and replacement of the Regional Water System; and

(d) The four Pueblos and Reclamation agreed that in lieu of the formal grant of easement or right-of-way, the parties will use a construction agreement that delineates construction corridors and other authorized activities within Pueblo lands; and

(e) On Dec 20, 2019, the Council authorized signature of a form of the Pojoaque Basin Regional Water System Project Construction Agreement; and

(f) The Pueblo had made recommendations on the construction corridors that are an exhibit to the Construction Agreement and was awaiting final response from Reclamation before signing the Construction Agreement; and

(g) During that time and before the Construction Agreement had been signed, the COVID-19 pandemic hit and the Pueblo took actions to mitigate the spread of the virus and protect its tribal residents, including restrictions on entrance to the Pueblo's lands by non-tribal visitors, non-essential contractors or vendors; and

(h) A COVID-19 Response Plan was developed for all contractors and their employees that will be working on the portion of the Regional Water System within the Pueblo; and

(i) The COVID-19 Response Plan is incorporated into Exhibit A of the Construction Agreement which contains specific terms and requirements for safe access to the Pueblo for construction activities and constitutes a substantive amendment to Exhibit A that requires Council approval and authorization; and

(j) The Council, having reviewed a form of the Construction Agreement and the exhibits thereto, including the amended Exhibit A, finds authorization of the Construction Agreement is in the best interest of this Pueblo.