Calendar No. 625

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2142

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to convey

other purposes.tion, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and forDepartment of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamapartment of Agriculture, Forest Service, and thejurisdictional transfer of lands between the Dethe facilities of the Pine River Project, to allow

SEPTEMBER 25, 1998

Reported with an amendment
II

Calendar No. 625

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2142

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to convey the facilities of the

Pine River Project, to allow jurisdictional transfer of lands between

the Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, and the Department

of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs,

and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 5, 1998

Mr. CAMPBELL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

SEPTEMBER 25, 1998

Reported by Mr. MURKOWSKI, with an amendment

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to convey the

facilities of the Pine River Project, to allow jurisdictional

transfer of lands between the Department of Agriculture,

Forest Service, and the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs,

and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pine River Project

3 Conveyance Act’’.

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

5 For purposes of this Act:

6 (1) The term ‘‘Jurisdictional Map’’ means the

7 map entitled ‘‘Transfer of Jurisdiction—Vallecito

8 Reservoir, United States Department of Agriculture,

9 Forest Service and United States Department of the

10 Interior, Bureau of Reclamation and the Bureau of

11 Indian Affairs’’ dated March, 1998.

12 (2) The term ‘‘Pine River Project’’ or the

13 ‘‘Project’’ means Vallecito Dam and Reservoir

14 owned by the United States and authorized in 1937

15 under the provisions of the Department of the Inte16 rior Appropriation Act of June 25, 1910, 36 Stat.

17 835; facilities appurtenant to the Dam and Res18 ervoir, including equipment, buildings, and other im19 provements; lands adjacent to the Dam and Res20 ervoir; easements and rights-of-way necessary for ac21 cess and all required connections with the Dam and

22 Reservoir, including those for necessary roads; and

23 associated personal property, including contract

24 rights and any and all ownership or property inter25 est in water or water rights.
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1 (3) The term ‘‘Repayment Contract’’ means Re2 payment Contract #I1r–1204, between Reclamation

3 and the Pine River Irrigation District, dated April

4 15, 1940, and amended November 30, 1953, cover5 ing the Pine River Project and certain lands ac6 quired in support of the Vallecito Dam and Res7 ervoir pursuant to which the Pine River Irrigation

8 District has assumed operation and maintenance re9 sponsibilities for the dam, reservoir, and water-based

10 recreation in accordance with existing law.

11 (4) The term ‘‘Reclamation’’ means the Depart12 ment of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation.

13 (5) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

14 of the Interior.

15 (6) The term ‘‘Southern Ute Indian Tribe’’ or

16 ‘‘Tribe’’ means a federally recognized Indian tribe,

17 located on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation, La

18 Plata County, Colorado.

19 (7) The term ‘‘Pine River Irrigation District’’

20 or ‘‘District’’ means a political division of the State

21 of Colorado duly organized, existing, and acting pur22 suant to the laws thereof with its principal place of

23 business in the City of Bayfield, La Plata County,

Colorado and having an undivided 5 24 ⁄6 right and in25 terest in the use of the water made available by
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1 Vallecito Reservoir for the purpose of supplying the

2 lands of the District, pursuant to the Repayment

3 Contract, and the decree in Case No. 1848–B, Dis4 trict Court, Water Division 7, State of Colorado, as

well as an undivided 5 5 ⁄6 right and interest in the

6 Pine River Project.

7 SEC. 3. TRANSFER OF THE PINE RIVER PROJECT.

8 (a) CONVEYANCE.—The Secretary is authorized to

9 convey, without consideration or compensation, except as

10 provided in this section, to the District, by quitclaim deed

11 or patent, pursuant to section 6, the United States’ undivided 5 12 ⁄6 right and interest in the Pine River Project under

13 the jurisdiction of Reclamation for the benefit of the Pine

14 River Irrigation District. The quitclaim deed or patent

shall expressly provide that the undivided 5 15 ⁄6 right and in16 terest transferred cannot be subject to partition from the

undivided 1 17 ⁄6 right and interest retained under the juris18 diction of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

(b) PRICE.—The sale price for the undivided 5 19 ⁄6 right

20 and interest to the Project to be transferred to the Pine

21 River Irrigation District shall be Four Hundred Ninety22 two Thousand and 00/100 Dollars ($492,000) (the ‘‘Sale

23 Price’’). Concurrently with the conveyance, the Sale Price

24 shall be deposited as miscellaneous receipts into the Rec25 lamation Fund of the United States. Payment of the Sale
5

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1 Price shall extinguish all obligations between the District

2 and the Bureau of Indian Affairs on the one hand and

3 Reclamation on the other hand, under the Repayment

4 Contract or with respect to the Pine River Project. Upon

5 completion of the title transfer, said Repayment Contract

6 shall become null and void.

7 (c) TRANSACTION COSTS.—Pursuant to the April 1,

8 1998, Memorandum of Understanding between Reclama9 tion and the District, the District is responsible for paying

10 all costs associated with the title transfer. The Secretary

11 shall credit 50 percent of all costs incurred to fulfill the

12 requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act

13 and other Federal laws toward the Sale Price due under

14 section 3(b) herein, such credit not to exceed the Sale

15 Price.

16 (d) BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS INTEREST.—At the

17 option of the Tribe, the Secretary is authorized to convey

to the Tribe the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ undivided 1 18 ⁄6

19 right and interest in the Pine River Project and the water

20 supply made available by Vallecito Reservoir pursuant to

21 the Memorandum of Understanding between the Bureau

22 of Reclamation and the Office of Indian Affairs dated Jan23 uary 3, 1940, together with its Amendment dated July

24 9, 1964 (‘‘MOU’’), the Repayment Contract and decrees

25 in Case Nos. 1848–B and W–1603–76D, District Court,
6

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1 Water Division 7, State of Colorado. In the event of such

2 conveyance, no additional consideration or compensation

3 shall be required to be paid to the United States.

4 (e) FEDERAL DAM USE CHARGE.—Conveyance of

Reclamation’s 5 5 ⁄6 interest in the facilities under this Act

shall result in a 5 6 ⁄6 reduction in the Federal dam use

7 charge assessed under section 10(e) of the Federal Power

8 Act for use of the hydropower potential of the facilities.

9 SEC. 4. JURISDICTIONAL TRANSFER OF LANDS.

10 (a) INUNDATED LANDS.—To provide for the consoli11 dation of lands associated with the Pine River Project to

12 be retained by the Forest Service and the consolidation

13 of lands to be transferred to the District, the administra14 tive jurisdiction of lands inundated by and along the

15 shoreline of Vallecito Reservoir, as shown on the Jurisdic16 tional Map, shall be transferred, as set forth below (the

17 ‘‘Jurisdictional Transfer’’), concurrently with the convey18 ance described in section 3(a). Except as otherwise shown

19 on the Jurisdictional Map—

20 (1) for withdrawn lands (approximately 260

21 acres) lying below the 7,765-foot reservoir water sur22 face elevation level, the Forest Service shall transfer

an undivided 5 23 ⁄6 interest to Reclamation and an undivided 1 24 ⁄6 interest to the Bureau of Indian Affairs

25 in trust for the Tribe; and
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1 (2) for Project acquired lands (approximately

2 230 acres) above the 7,765-foot reservoir water sur3 face elevation level, Reclamation and the Bureau of

4 Indian Affairs shall transfer their interests to the

5 Forest Service.

6 (b) MAP.—The Jurisdictional Map and legal descrip7 tions of the lands transferred pursuant to subsection (a)

8 above shall be on file and available for public inspection

9 in the offices of the Chief of the Forest Service, Depart10 ment of Agriculture, the Commissioner of Reclamation,

11 Department of the Interior, appropriate field offices of

12 those agencies, and the Committee on Resources of the

13 House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy

14 and Natural Resources of the Senate.

15 (c) ADMINISTRATION.—Following the Jurisdictional

16 Transfer:

17 (1) All lands that, by reason of the Jurisdic18 tional Transfer, become National Forest System

19 lands within the boundaries of the San Juan Na20 tional Forest, shall be administered in accordance

21 with the laws, rules, and regulations applicable to

22 the National Forest System.

23 (2) Reclamation withdrawals of land from the

24 San Juan National Forest established by Secretarial

25 Orders on November 9, 1936, October 14, 1937,
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1 and June 20, 1945, together designated as Serial

2 No. C–28259, shall be revoked.

3 (3) The Forest Service shall issue perpetual

4 easements to the District and the Bureau of Indian

5 Affairs, at no cost to the District or the Bureau of

6 Indian Affairs, providing adequate access across all

7 lands subject to Forest Service jurisdiction to insure

8 the District and the Bureau of Indian Affairs the

9 ability to continue to operate and maintain the Pine

10 River Project.

(4) The undivided 5 11 ⁄6 interest in National For12 est System lands that, by reason of the Jurisdic13 tional Transfer is to be administered by Reclama14 tion, shall be conveyed to the District pursuant to

15 section 3(a).

16 (5) The District and the Bureau of Indian Af17 fairs shall issue perpetual easements to the Forest

18 Service, at no cost to the Forest Service, from Na19 tional Forest System lands to Vallecito Reservoir to

20 assure continued public access to Vallecito Reservoir

21 when the Reservoir level drops below the 7,765-foot

22 water surface elevation.

23 (6) The District and the Bureau of Indian Af24 fairs shall issue a perpetual easement to the Forest

25 Service, at no cost to the Forest Service, for the re-
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1 construction, maintenance, and operation of a road

2 from La Plata County Road No. 501 to National

3 Forest System lands east of the Reservoir.

4 (d) VALID EXISTING RIGHTS.—Nothing in this sec5 tion shall affect any valid existing rights or interests in

6 any existing land use authorization, except that any such

7 land use authorization shall be administered by the agency

8 having jurisdiction over the land after the Jurisdictional

9 Transfer in accordance with subsection (c) and other ap10 plicable law. Renewal or reissuance of any such authoriza11 tion shall be in accordance with applicable law and the

12 regulations of the agency having jurisdiction, except that

13 the change of administrative jurisdiction shall not in itself

14 constitute a ground to deny the renewal or reissuance of

15 any such authorization.

16 SEC. 5. LIABILITY.

17 Effective on the date of the conveyance of an undivided 5 18 ⁄6 right and interest in the Pine River Project to

19 the District, the United States shall not be held liable by

20 any court for damages of any kind arising out of any act,

omission, or occurrence relating to such undivided 5 21 ⁄6 right

22 and interest, except for damages caused by acts of neg23 ligence committed by the United States or by its employ24 ees, agents, or contractors prior to the date of conveyance.

25 Nothing in this section shall be deemed to increase the
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1 liability of the United States beyond that currently pro2 vided in the Federal Tort Claims Act (28 U.S.C. 2671

3 et seq.)

4 SEC. 6. COMPLETION OF CONVEYANCE.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary’s completion of the

6 conveyances under section 3 shall occur promptly after the

7 following events:

8 (1) Compliance with the National Environ9 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.),

10 and other applicable Federal and State laws.

11 (2) A written statement from the Southern Ute

12 Indian Tribe indicating the Tribe’s satisfaction that

13 the Tribe’s Indian Trust Assets are protected in the

14 conveyance described in section 3.

15 (3) The issuance by the Federal Energy Regu16 latory Commission of an amendment to license

17 #3174–001 which revises annual charges and other18 wise reflects the conveyance described in section 3.

19 (4) The submission of a statement by the Sec20 retary to the District, the Bureau of Indian Affairs,

21 and the State of Colorado on the existing condition

22 of Vallecito Dam based on Bureau of Reclamation’s

23 current knowledge and understanding.

24 (5) The development of an agreement between

25 the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the District to pre-
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1 scribe the District’s obligation to so operate the

Project that the 1 2 ⁄6 rights and interests to the

3 Project and water supply made available by Vallecito

4 Reservoir held by the Bureau of Indian Affairs are

5 protected.

6 (6) The submission of a plan by the District to

7 manage the Project in a manner substantially simi8 lar to the manner in which it was managed prior to

9 the transfer and in accordance with applicable Fed10 eral and State laws, including management for the

11 preservation of public access and recreational values

12 and for the prevention of growth on certain lands to

13 be conveyed hereunder, as set forth in an Agreement

14 dated March 20, 1998, between the District and

15 residents of Vallecito Reservoir. Any future change

16 in the use of the water supplied by Vallecito Res17 ervoir shall comply with applicable law.

18 (7) The development of a flood control plan by

19 the Secretary of the Army acting through the Corps

20 of Engineers which shall direct the District in the

21 operation of Vallecito Dam for such purposes.

22 (b) REPORT.—If the transfer authorized in section

23 3 is not substantially completed, the Secretary, in coordi24 nation with the District, shall provide a report to the Com25 mittee on Resources of the House of Representatives and
12

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1 to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of

2 the Senate within 18 months from the date of enactment

3 of this Act on the status of the transfer described in sec4 tion 3(a), any obstacles to completion of such transfer,

5 and the anticipated date for such transfer.

6 (c) FUTURE BENEFITS.—Effective upon transfer, the

7 District shall not be entitled to receive any further Rec8 lamation benefits pursuant to the Reclamation Act of

9 June 17, 1902, and Acts supplementary thereto or amend10 atory thereof.

11 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

12 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pine River Project Con13 veyance Act’’.

14 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

15 For purposes of this Act:

16 (1) The term ‘‘Jurisdictional Map’’ means the

17 map entitled ‘‘Transfer of Jurisdiction—Vallecito

18 Reservoir, United States Department of Agriculture,

19 Forest Service and United States Department of the

20 Interior, Bureau of Reclamation and the Bureau of

21 Indian Affairs’’ dated March, 1998.

22 (2) The term ‘‘Pine River Project’’ or the

23 ‘‘Project’’ means Vallecito Dam and Reservoir owned

24 by the United States and authorized in 1937 under

25 the provisions of the Department of the Interior Ap-
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1 propriation Act of June 25, 1910, 36 Stat. 835; fa2 cilities appurtenant to the Dam and Reservoir, in3 cluding equipment, buildings, and other improve4 ments; lands adjacent to the Dam and Reservoir;

5 easements and rights-of-way necessary for access and

6 all required connections with the Dam and Reservoir,

7 including those for necessary roads; and associated

8 personal property, including contract rights and any

9 and all ownership or property interest in water or

10 water rights.

11 (3) The term ‘‘Repayment Contract’’ means Re12 payment Contract #I1r–1204, between Reclamation

13 and the Pine River Irrigation District, dated April

14 15, 1940, and amended November 30, 1953, and all

15 amendments and additions thereto, including the Act

16 of July 27, 1954 (68 Stat. 534), covering the Pine

17 River Project and certain lands acquired in support

18 of the Vallecito Dam and Reservoir pursuant to which

19 the Pine River Irrigation District has assumed oper20 ation and maintenance responsibilities for the dam,

21 reservoir, and water-based recreation in accordance

22 with existing law.

23 (4) The term ‘‘Reclamation’’ means the Depart24 ment of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation.
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1 (5) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of

2 the Interior.

3 (6) The term ‘‘Southern Ute Indian Tribe’’ or

4 ‘‘Tribe’’ means a federally recognized Indian tribe, lo5 cated on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation, La

6 Plata County, Colorado.

7 (7) The term ‘‘Pine River Irrigation District’’ or

8 ‘‘District’’ means a political division of the State of

9 Colorado duly organized, existing, and acting pursu10 ant to the laws thereof with its principal place of

11 business in the City of Bayfield, La Plata County,

Colorado and having an undivided 5 12 ⁄6 right and in13 terest in the use of the water made available by

14 Vallecito Reservoir for the purpose of supplying the

15 lands of the District, pursuant to the Repayment

16 Contract, and the decree in Case No. 1848–B, District

17 Court, Water Division 7, State of Colorado, as well

as an undivided 5 18 ⁄6 right and interest in the Pine

19 River Project.

20 SEC. 3. TRANSFER OF THE PINE RIVER PROJECT.

21 (a) CONVEYANCE.—The Secretary is authorized to con22 vey, without consideration or compensation to the District,

23 by quitclaim deed or patent, pursuant to section 6, the

United States undivided 5 24 ⁄6 right and interest in the Pine

25 River Project under the jurisdiction of Reclamation for the
15

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1 benefit of the Pine River Irrigation District. No partition

of the undivided 5 2 ⁄6 right and interest in the Pine River

Project shall be permitted from the undivided 1 3 ⁄6 right and

4 interest in the Pine River Project described in subsection

5 3(b) and any quit claim deed or patent evidencing a trans6 fer shall expressly prohibit partitioning. Effective on the

7 date of the conveyance, all obligations between the District

8 and the Bureau of Indian Affairs on the one hand and Rec9 lamation on the other hand, under the Repayment Contract

10 or with respect to the Pine River Project are extinguished.

11 Upon completion of the title transfer, said Repayment Con12 tract shall become null and void. The District shall be re13 sponsible for paying 50 percent of all costs associated with

14 the title transfer.

15 (b) BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS INTEREST.—At the

16 option of the Tribe, the Secretary is authorized to convey

to the Tribe the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ undivided 1 17 ⁄6

18 right and interest in the Pine River Project and the water

19 supply made available by Vallecito Reservoir pursuant to

20 the Memorandum of Understanding between the Bureau of

21 Reclamation and the Office of Indian Affairs dated Janu22 ary 3, 1940, together with its Amendment dated July 9,

23 1964 (‘MOU’), the Repayment Contract and decrees in Case

24 Nos. 1848–B and W–1603–76D, District Court, Water Di25 vision 7, State of Colorado. In the event of such conveyance,
16

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1 no consideration or compensation shall be required to be

2 paid to the United States.

3 (c) FEDERAL DAM USE CHARGE.—Nothing in this Act

4 shall relieve the holder of the license issued by the Federal

5 Energy Regulatory Commission under the Federal Power

6 Act for Vallecito Dam in effect on the date of enactment

7 of this Act from the obligation to make payments under sec8 tion 10(e)(2) of the Federal Power Act during the remain9 ing term of the present license. At the expiration of the

10 present license term, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission shall adjust the charge to reflect either (1) the 1 11 ⁄6

12 interest of the United States remaining in the Vallecito

13 Dam after conveyance to the District; or (2) if the remaining 1 14 ⁄6 interest of the United States has been conveyed to

15 the Tribe pursuant to section 3(b), then no federal dam

16 charge shall be levied from the date of expiration of the

17 present license.

18 SEC. 4. JURISDICTIONAL TRANSFER OF LANDS.

19 (a) INUNDATED LANDS.—To provide for the consolida20 tion of lands associated with the Pine River Project to be

21 retained by the Forest Service and the consolidation of

22 lands to be transferred to the District, the administrative

23 jurisdiction of lands inundated by and along the shoreline

24 of Vallecito Reservoir, as shown on the Jurisdictional Map,

25 shall be transferred, as set forth below (the ‘‘Jurisdictional
17

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1 Transfer’’), concurrently with the conveyance described in

2 section 3(a). Except as otherwise shown on the Jurisdic3 tional Map—

4 (1) for withdrawn lands (approximately 260

5 acres) lying below the 7,765-foot reservoir water sur6 face elevation level, the Forest Service shall transfer

an undivided 5 7 ⁄6 interest to Reclamation and an undivided 1 8 ⁄6 interest to the Bureau of Indian Affairs in

9 trust for the Tribe; and

10 (2) for Project acquired lands (approximately

11 230 acres) above the 7,765-foot reservoir water surface

12 elevation level, Reclamation and the Bureau of In13 dian Affairs shall transfer their interests to the Forest

14 Service.

15 (b) MAP.—The Jurisdictional Map and legal descrip16 tions of the lands transferred pursuant to subsection (a)

17 above shall be on file and available for public inspection

18 in the offices of the Chief of the Forest Service, Department

19 of Agriculture, the Commissioner of Reclamation, Depart20 ment of the Interior, appropriate field offices of those agen21 cies, and the Committee on Resources of the House of Rep22 resentatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Re23 sources of the Senate.

24 (c) ADMINISTRATION.—Following the Jurisdictional

25 Transfer:
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1 (1) All lands that, by reason of the Jurisdic2 tional Transfer, become National Forest System lands

3 within the boundaries of the San Juan National For4 est, shall be administered in accordance with the

5 laws, rules, and regulations applicable to the National

6 Forest System.

7 (2) Reclamation withdrawals of land from the

8 San Juan National Forest established by Secretarial

9 Orders on November 9, 1936, October 14, 1937, and

10 June 20, 1945, together designated as Serial No. C–

11 28259, shall be revoked.

12 (3) The Forest Service shall issue perpetual ease13 ments to the District and the Bureau of Indian Af14 fairs, at no cost to the District or the Bureau of In15 dian Affairs, providing adequate access across all

16 lands subject to Forest Service jurisdiction to insure

17 the District and the Bureau of Indian Affairs the

18 ability to continue to operate and maintain the Pine

19 River Project.

(4) The undivided 5 20 ⁄6 interest in National Forest

21 System lands that, by reason of the Jurisdictional

22 Transfer is to be administered by Reclamation, shall

23 be conveyed to the District pursuant to section 3(a).

24 (5) The District and the Bureau of Indian Af25 fairs shall issue perpetual easements to the Forest
19

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1 Service, at no cost to the Forest Service, from Na2 tional Forest System lands to Vallecito Reservoir to

3 assure continued public access to Vallecito Reservoir

4 when the Reservoir level drops below the 7,665-foot

5 water surface elevation.

6 (6) The District and the Bureau of Indian Af7 fairs shall issue a perpetual easement to the Forest

8 Service, at no cost to the Forest Service, for the recon9 struction, maintenance, and operation of a road from

10 La Plata County Road No. 501 to National Forest

11 System lands east of the Reservoir.

12 (d) VALID EXISTING RIGHTS.—Nothing in this section

13 shall affect any valid existing rights or interests in any ex14 isting land use authorization, except that any such land

15 use authorization shall be administered by the agency hav16 ing jurisdiction over the land after the Jurisdictional

17 Transfer in accordance with subsection (c) and other appli18 cable law. Renewal or reissuance of any such authorization

19 shall be in accordance with applicable law and the regula20 tions of the agency having jurisdiction, except that the

21 change of administrative jurisdiction shall not in itself con22 stitute a ground to deny the renewal or reissuance of any

23 such authorization.
20

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1 SEC. 5. LIABILITY.

2 Effective on the date of the conveyance of the remaining undivided 1 3 ⁄6 right and interest in the Pine River

4 Project to the Tribe pursuant to subsection 3(b), the United

5 States shall not be held liable by any court for damages

6 of any kind arising out of any act, omission, or occurrence

7 relating to such Project, except for damages caused by acts

8 of negligence committed by the United States or by its em9 ployees, agents, or contractors prior to the date of convey10 ance. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to increase

11 the liability of the United States beyond that currently pro12 vided in the Federal Tort Claims Act (28 U.S.C. 2671 et

13 seq.)

14 SEC. 6. COMPLETION OF CONVEYANCE.

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary’s completion of the

16 conveyance under section 3 shall not occur until the follow17 ing events have been completed:

18 (1) Compliance with the National Environ19 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.),

20 and other applicable Federal and State laws.

21 (2) The submission of a written statement from

22 the Southern Ute Indian Tribe to the Secretary indi23 cating the Tribe’s satisfaction that the Tribe’s Indian

24 Trust Assets are protected in the conveyance described

25 in section 3.
21

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1 (3) Execution of an agreement acceptable to the

2 Secretary which limits the future liability of the

3 United States relative to the operation of the Project.

4 (4) The submission of a statement by the Sec5 retary to the District, the Bureau of Indian Affairs,

6 and the State of Colorado on the existing condition of

7 Vallecito Dam based on Bureau of Reclamation’s cur8 rent knowledge and understanding.

9 (5) The development of an agreement between the

10 Bureau of Indian Affairs and the District to prescribe

11 the District’s obligation to so operate the Project that

the 1 12 ⁄6 rights and interests to the Project and water

13 supply made available by Vallecito Reservoir held by

14 the Bureau of Indian Affairs are protected. Such

15 agreement shall supercede the Memorandum of Agree16 ment referred to in section 3(b) of this Act.

17 (6) The submission of a plan by the District to

18 manage the Project in a manner substantially similar

19 to the manner in which it was managed prior to the

20 transfer and in accordance with applicable Federal

21 and State laws, including management for the preser22 vation of public access and recreational values and

23 for the prevention of growth on certain lands to be

24 conveyed hereunder, as set forth in an Agreement

25 dated March 20, 1998, between the District and resi-
22

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1 dents of Vallecito Reservoir. Any future change in the

2 use of the water supplied by Vallecito Reservoir shall

3 comply with applicable law.

4 (7) The development of a flood control plan by

5 the Secretary of the Army acting through the Corps

6 of Engineers which shall direct the District in the op7 eration of Vallecito Dam for such purposes.

8 (b) REPORT.—If the transfer authorized in section 3

9 is not substantially completed within 18 months from the

10 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in coordination

11 with the District, shall promptly provide a report to the

12 Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives

13 and to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

14 of the Senate on the status of the transfer described in sec15 tion 3(a), any obstacles to completion of such transfer, and

16 the anticipated date for such transfer.

17 (c) FUTURE BENEFITS.—Effective upon transfer, the

18 District shall not be entitled to receive any further Rec19 lamation benefits attributable to its status as a Reclama20 tion project pursuant to the Reclamation Act of June 17,

21 1902, and Acts supplementary thereto or amendatory there22 of.

Æ