11.2.5.010 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 Considerations" 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) The Engineering Report location for the Water Treatment Plant did not adequately consider cultural and safety concerns of the Pueblo.

(g) The Bureau of Reclamation has issued a draft river diversion and water treatment plant location options binder for the Pojoaque Basin Regional Water System project.

(h) The Council received a presentation from the Bureau of Reclamation and its water committee concerning the ten options for diversion and water treatment.

(i) 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.

(j) Option 9 minimizes injury or risk to cultural resources at the Pueblo resulting from construction of water treatment plant for the Regional Water System, and reduces expected operating cost by use of "radial galleries" which minimize conveyance of sediment-laden water to the treatment plant.