II

Calendar No. 927

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2350

[Report No. 106–478]

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain water rights to

Duchesne City, Utah.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

APRIL 4, 2000

Mr. HATCH (for himself and Mr. BENNETT) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

OCTOBER 3 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 22), 2000

Reported by Mr. MURKOWSKI, with an amendment

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

A BILL

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain

water rights to Duchesne City, Utah.

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Duchesne City Water

5 Rights Conveyance Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. CONVEYANCE OF WATER RIGHTS TO DUCHESNE

2 CITY, UTAH.

3 (a) CONVEYANCE.—The Secretary of Interior, subject

4 to subsection (b), shall convey to Duchesne City, Utah,

5 or a water district created by Duchesne City, all right,

6 title, and interest of the United States in and to those

7 water rights appropriated under the laws of the State of

8 Utah by the United States Indian Service and identified

9 as Water Rights Nos. 43–180 (Certificate No. 1034) and

10 43–203 (Certificate No. 1056) in the records of the State

11 Engineer of Utah.

12 (b) REQUIRED TERMS.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—As terms of any conveyance

14 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall require

15 that Duchesne City, a water district created by

16 Duchesne City, or their successors or assigns—

17 (A) shall allow the Ute Indian Tribe of the

18 Uintah and Ouray Reservation, its members,

19 and any person leasing or utilizing land that is

20 held in trust for the Tribe by the United States

21 and is located within the Duchesne City water

22 service area (as such area may be adjusted

23 from time to time), to connect to the Duchesne

24 City municipal water system;
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1 (B) shall not require such Tribe, members,

2 or person to pay any water impact or connec3 tion fee for such connection; and

4 (C) shall not require such Tribe, members,

5 or person to deliver or transfer any water or

6 water rights for such connection.

7 (2) LIMITATION.—Paragraph (1) shall not be

8 construed to prohibit Duchesne City, a water district

9 created by Duchesne City, or their successors or as10 signs, from charging any person that connects to the

11 Duchesne City municipal water system pursuant to

12 paragraph (1) reasonable and customary fees to re13 cover costs of the operation and maintenance of the

14 water system to treat, transport, and deliver water

15 to the person.

16 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

17 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Duchesne City Water

18 Rights Conveyance Act’’.

19 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

20 The Congress finds the following:

21 (1) In 1861, President Lincoln established the

22 Uintah Valley Reservation by Executive order. The

23 Congress confirmed the Executive order in 1864 (13

24 Stat. 63), and additional lands were added to form
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1 the Uintah Indian Reservation (now known as the

2 Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation).

3 (2) Pursuant to subsequent Acts of Congress,

4 lands were allotted to the Indians of the reservation,

5 and unallotted lands were restored to the public do6 main to be disposed of under homestead and townsite

7 laws.

8 (3) In July 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt

9 reserved lands for the townsite for Duchesne, Utah, by

10 Presidential proclamation and pursuant to the appli11 cable townsite laws.

12 (4) In July 1905, the United States, through the

13 Acting United States Indian Agent in Behalf of the

14 Indians of the Uintah Indian Reservation, Utah, filed

15 2 applications, 43–180 and 43–203, under the laws of

16 the State of Utah to appropriate certain waters.

17 (5) The stated purposes of the water appropria18 tion applications were, respectively, ‘‘for irrigation

19 and domestic supply for townsite purposes in the

20 lands herein described’’, and ‘‘for the purpose of irri21 gating Indian allotments on the Uintah Indian Res22 ervation, Utah, . . . and for an irrigating and do23 mestic water supply for townsite purposes in the

24 lands herein described’’.
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1 (6) The United States subsequently filed change

2 applications which provided that the entire appro3 priation would be used for municipal and domestic

4 purposes in the town of Duchesne, Utah.

5 (7) The State Engineer of Utah approved the

6 change applications, and the State of Utah issued

7 water right certificates, identified as Certificate Num8 bers 1034 and 1056, in the name of the United States

9 Indian Service in 1921, pursuant to the applications

10 filed, for domestic and municipal uses in the town of

11 Duchesne.

12 (8) Non-Indians settled the town of Duchesne,

13 and the inhabitants have utilized the waters appro14 priated by the United States for townsite purposes.

15 (9) Pursuant to title V of Public Law 102–575,

16 Congress ratified the quantification of the reserved

17 waters rights of the Ute Indian Tribe, subject to re18 ratification of the water compact by the State of Utah

19 and the Tribe.

20 (10) The Ute Indian Tribe does not oppose legis21 lation that will convey the water rights appropriated

22 by the United States in 1905 to the city of Duchesne

23 because the appropriations do not serve the purposes,

24 rights, or interests of the Tribe or its members, be25 cause the full amount of the reserved water rights of
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1 the Tribe will be quantified in other proceedings, and

2 because the Tribe and its members will receive sub3 stantial benefits through such legislation.

4 (11) The Secretary of the Interior requires addi5 tional authority in order to convey title to those ap6 propriations made by the United States in 1905 in

7 order for the city of Duchesne to continue to enjoy the

8 use of those water rights and to provide additional

9 benefits to the Ute Indian Tribe and its members as

10 originally envisioned by the 1905 appropriations.

11 SEC. 3. CONVEYANCE OF WATER RIGHTS TO DUCHESNE

12 CITY, UTAH.

13 (a) CONVEYANCE.—The Secretary of the Interior, as

14 soon as practicable after the date of the enactment of this

15 Act, and in accordance with all applicable law, shall convey

16 to Duchesne City, Utah, or a water district created by

17 Duchesne City, all right, title, and interest of United States

18 in and to those water rights appropriated under the laws

19 of the State of Utah by the Department of the Interior’s

20 United States Indian Service and identified as Water

21 Rights Nos. 43–180 (Certificate No. 1034) and 43–203 (Cer22 tificate No. 1056) in the records of the State Engineer of

23 Utah.

24 (b) REQUIRED TERMS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—As terms of any conveyance

2 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall require that

3 Duchesne City—

4 (A) shall allow the Ute Indian Tribe of the

5 Uintah and Ouray Reservation, its members,

6 and any person leasing or utilizing land that is

7 held in trust for the Tribe by the United States

8 and is located within the Duchesne City water

9 service area (as such area may be adjusted from

10 time to time), to connect to the Duchesne City

11 municipal water system;

12 (B) shall not require such tribe, members, or

13 person to pay any water impact, connection, or

14 similar fee for such connection; and

15 (C) shall not require such tribe, members, or

16 person to deliver or transfer any water or water

17 rights for such connection.

18 (2) LIMITATION.—Paragraph (1) shall not be

19 construed to prohibit Duchesne City from charging

20 any person that connects to the Duchesne City munic21 ipal water system pursuant to paragraph (1) reason22 able, customary, and nondiscriminatory fees to re23 cover costs of the operation and maintenance of the

24 water system to treat, transport, and deliver water to

25 the person.
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1 SEC. 4. WATER RIGHTS.

2 (a) NO RELINQUISHMENT OR REDUCTION.—Except as

3 provided in section 3, nothing in this Act may be construed

4 as a relinquishment or reduction of any water rights re5 served, appropriated, or otherwise secured by the United

6 States in the State of Utah on or before the date of the en7 actment of this Act.

8 (b) NO PRECEDENT.—Nothing in this Act may be con9 strued as establishing a precedent for conveying or other10 wise transferring water rights held by the United States.

11 SEC. 5. TRIBAL RIGHTS.

12 Nothing in this Act may be construed to affect or mod13 ify any treaty or other right of the Ute Indian Tribe or

14 any other Indian tribe.

Calendar No. 927

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2350

[Report No. 106–478]

A BILL

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey

certain water rights to Duchesne City, Utah.

OCTOBER 3 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 22), 2000

Reported with an amendment