WASHINGTON
-Interior Secretary Gale Norton and Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs
Dave Anderson today formally signed an agreement with leaders of the
Zuni Tribe of New Mexico that will resolve the tribe's water rights
claims in the Little Colorado River Basin of Arizona without harming
other water users.
Secretary Gale Norton
signs the Zuni Indian Tribe Water Rights Settlement Agreement at the
Main Interior Building in Washington, D.C., on July 8, 2004. From left,
Wilford Eriacho, chairman of the Zuni Tribe's Water Rights Negotiating
Team, Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs Dave Anderson, Lt. Gov. Carmelita
Sanchez of Zuni Pueblo, Zuni Councilman Eduard Wemytewa, (Norton at
desk), Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, Joan Sandy of the Zuni Tribe, and
Rep. Steve Pearce of New Mexico. Photo by Tami Heilemann, NBC.
"This agreement creates
a productive partnership among the Zuni Tribe, other water users in
the basin, the State of Arizona, and the Federal Government to begin
restoring the Zuni Heaven Reservation in Arizona," Secretary Norton
said in signing the settlement. "This collaboration will work to
conserve the land and water resources they all share."
Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona,
who sponsored Congressional legislation that provided a framework to
resolve these Zuni water rights issues and spoke at the ceremony, called
the settlement a "fair and final solution that protects access
to water for rural Arizonans while respecting the religious beliefs
of the Zuni Tribe."
Assistant Secretary Anderson
congratulated the Tribe for its accomplishment, saying, "The Tribe's
commitment to the process of working with the Interior Department, Congress,
the State of Arizona and local water users to resolve their claims has
resulted in the preservation of a site sacred to the Zuni people."
Wilford Eriacho, chairman
of the Zuni Tribe's Water Rights Negotiating Team, said the settlement
assures the Zuni people that the wetlands of the Zuni Heaven Reservation
will be restored as close as possible to their original condition. "It
will help us to preserve our religious traditions by ensuring that the
Zuni will continue to make pilgrimage to the lands our ancestors call
home."
Also attending the ceremony
were Rep. Steve Pearce of New Mexico, Lt. Gov. Carmelita Sanchez of
Zuni Pueblo, Zuni Councilman Eduard Wemytewa, and Joan Sandy of the
Zuni Tribe.
The Zuni Indian Tribe Water
Rights Settlement Agreement, which Congress ratified and confirmed on
June 23, 2003, resolves claims associated with the Zuni Heaven Reservation
in the Little Colorado River Basin of northeastern Arizona. The agreement
would not affect any claims or water rights for the Zuni Tribe's homeland
reservation in New Mexico.
The Tribe will be entitled
to purchase annually up to 3,600 acre-feet of surface water rights in
addition to existing surface water rights on the Zuni Heaven Reservation.
The settlement also recognizes the right of the Zuni Tribe to annually
withdraw or use up to 1,500 acre-feet of ground water from wells on
specified Zuni lands.
The settlement provides $19.2
million from a Zuni Indian Tribe Water Rights Development Fund to be
used by the Tribe for riparian and wetlands restoration activities.
These include acquiring necessary state-based water rights from willing
sellers.
The United States Government
will contribute the bulk of the funds. The State of Arizona will contribute
$1.6 million to the tribe's restoration activities and will make additional
settlement contributions. The Salt River Project will contribute $1
million to be used for restoration activities.
The settlement requires the
Federal Government to take into trust parcels of land, subject to existing
easements and rights of way. The tribe and the United States waive all
past, present and future claims to additional water rights for Zuni
lands in Arizona.
Since time immemorial, the
Zuni people have used the area of Hunt Valley, Arizona -- at the confluence
of the Zuni and Little Colorado Rivers in northeastern Arizona -- for
sustenance and religious purposes. Tribal religious leaders made regular
pilgrimages from their homelands in New Mexico to the Hunt Valley area
to worship at the Sacred Lake located there and at surrounding springs,
wetlands and riparian areas. These sites are at the core of Zuni religious
beliefs, but are threatened by deterioration as a result of other development
in the area.
Recognizing the need to protect
these sacred sites and provide for their use by future generations of
Zuni people, Congress established the Zuni Heaven Reservation in 1984
to protect these sacred lands. Securing water rights for these reservation
lands is necessary to enable restoration of the resources and sacred
sites and to return them to meaningful religious use.
Secretary Gale Norton signs
the Zuni Indian Tribe Water Rights Settlement Agreement at the Main
Interior Building in Washington, D.C., on July 8, 2004. From left, Wilford
Eriacho, chairman of the Zuni Tribe's Water Rights Negotiating Team,
Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs Dave Anderson, Lt. Gov. Carmelita
Sanchez of Zuni Pueblo, Zuni Councilman Eduard Wemytewa, (Norton at
desk), Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, Joan Sandy of the Zuni Tribe, and
Rep. Steve Pearce of New Mexico. Photo by Tami Heilemann, NBC.