11.2.7.010 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) The four Pueblos signed the Settlement Agreement conformed to the Act on March 14, 2013, together with the other four governments affected by the Act.

(f) The United States Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) is required by the Act to construct a Regional Water System that will use Pueblo lands for diversion and treatment of water from the Rio Grande, as well as construction of pump stations, tanks, and a distribution system to all Pueblo water users, and other places designated by the Pueblo.

(g) The Pueblo and Reclamation have negotiated the MOA to describe the relationship involved between both parties in the planning, design and construction of the Pojoaque Basin Regional Water System.

(h) Negotiation of the MOA included negotiation of protocols for access to Pueblo lands, protection of Pueblo information, and inadvertent discovery Native American human remains and cultural patrimony.

(i) The MOA provides a process for revising and strengthening those protocols, as needed.

(j) The MOA contains remedies that recognize the Pueblo's right to exclude individuals who violate the terms of the MOA or any permit issued by the Pueblo to implement it.

(k) Those remedies include exclusion by the Pueblo, and possible federal prosecution under the Archeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA) if archeological sites are injured.

(l) Reclamation and the Pueblo wish to put the MOA in place so that data collection and environmental work can proceed on Pueblo lands starting in June 2013.

(m) The MOA has been reviewed and recommended to the Council for approval by the Pueblo Governor, water representatives, and legal counsel in the Aamodt Case.

(n) Approval of the attached MOA is in the best interest of this Pueblo.