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(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall perma-
nently allocate to the Tribe, without cost to the
Tribe, 10,000 acre-feet per year of stored water
from the water right of the Bureau of Reclamation
in Lake Elwell, Lower Marias Unit, Upper Missouri
Division, Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program, Mon-
tana, measured at the outlet works of the dam or at
the diversion point from the reservoir. The allocation
shall become effective when the decree referred to in
section 101(b) has become final in accordance with
that section. The allocation shall be part of the Trib-
al Water Right and subject to the terms of this Act.
(2) AGREEMENT.—The Secretary shall enter
into an agreement with the Tribe setting forth the
terms of the allocation and providing for the Tribe’s
use or temporary transfer of water stored in Lake
Elwell, subject to the terms and conditions of the
Compact and this Act.
(3) PRIOR RESERVED WATER RIGHTS.—The al-
location provided in this section shall be subject to
the prior reserved water rights, if any, of any Indian
tribe, or person claiming water through any Indian
tribe.
(b) USE AND TEMPORARY TRANSFER OF ALLOCA-
TION.—
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(1) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to the limitations
and conditions set forth in the Compact and this
Act, the Tribe shall have the right to devote the
water allocated by this section to any use, including
agricultural, municipal, commercial, industrial, min-
ing, or recreational uses, within or outside the Rocky
Boy’s Reservation.
(2) CONTRACTS AND AGREEMENTS.—Notwith-
standing any other provision of statutory or common
law, the Tribe may, with the approval of the Sec-
retary and subject to the limitations and conditions
set forth in the Compact, enter into a service con-
tract, lease, exchange, or other agreement providing
for the temporary delivery, use, or transfer of the
water allocated by this section, except that no such
service contract, lease, exchange, or other agreement
may permanently alienate any portion of the tribal
allocation.
(c) REMAINING STORAGE.—The United States shall
retain the right to use for any authorized purpose, any
and all storage remaining in Lake Elwell after the alloca-
tion made to the Tribe in subsection 201(a).
(d) WATER TRANSPORT OBLIGATION; DEVELOP-
MENT AND DELIVERY COSTS.—The United States shall
have no responsibility or obligation to provide any facility
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for the transport of the water allocated by this section to
the Rocky Boy’s Reservation or to any other location. Ex-
cept for the contribution set forth in subsection 105(a)(3),
the cost of developing and delivering the water allocated
by this title or any other supplemental water to the Rocky
Boy’s Reservation shall not be borne by the United States.
(e) SECTION NOT PRECEDENTIAL.—The provisions
of this section regarding the allocation of water resources
from the Tiber Reservoir to the Tribe shall not be con-
strued as precedent in the litigation or settlement of any
other Indian water right claims.
SEC. 202. MUNICIPAL, RURAL, AND INDUSTRIAL FEASI-
BILITY STUDY.
(a) AUTHORIZATION.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—
(A) STUDY.—The Secretary, through the
Bureau of Reclamation, shall perform an MR&I
feasibility study of water and related resources
in north central Montana to evaluate alter-
natives for a municipal, rural, and industrial
supply for the Rocky Boy’s Reservation.
(B) USE OF FUNDS MADE AVAILABLE FOR
FISCAL YEAR 1999.—The authority under sub-
paragraph (A) shall be deemed to apply to
MR&I feasibility study activities for which
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funds were made available by appropriations for
fiscal year 1999.
(2) CONTENTS OF STUDY.—The MR&I feasi-
bility study shall include the feasibility of releasing
the Tribe’s Tiber allocation as provided in section
201 into the Missouri River System for later diver-
sion to a treatment and delivery system for the
Rocky Boy’s Reservation.
(3) UTILIZATION OF EXISTING STUDIES.—The
MR&I feasibility study shall include utilization of ex-
isting Federal and non-Federal studies and shall be
planned and conducted in consultation with other
Federal agencies, the State of Montana, and the
Chippewa Cree Tribe.
(b) ACCEPTANCE OR PARTICIPATION IN IDENTIFIED
OFF-RESERVATION SYSTEM.—The United States, the
Chippewa Cree Tribe of the Rocky Boy’s Reservation, and
the State of Montana shall not be obligated to accept or
participate in any potential off-Reservation water supply
system identified in the MR&I feasibility study authorized
in subsection (a).
SEC. 203. REGIONAL FEASIBILITY STUDY.
(a) IN GENERAL.—
(1) STUDY.—The Secretary, through the Bu-
reau of Reclamation, shall conduct, pursuant to Rec-
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lamation Law, a regional feasibility study (referred
to in this subsection as the ‘‘regional feasibility
study’’) to evaluate water and related resources in
north central Montana in order to determine the
limitations of those resources and how those re-
sources can best be managed and developed to serve
the needs of the citizens of Montana.
(2) USE OF FUNDS MADE AVAILABLE FOR FIS-
CAL YEAR 1999.—The authority under paragraph (1)
shall be deemed to apply to regional feasibility study
activities for which funds were made available by ap-
propriations for fiscal year 1999.
(b) CONTENTS OF STUDY.—The regional feasibility
study shall—
(1) evaluate existing and potential water sup-
plies, uses, and management;
(2) identify major water-related issues, includ-
ing environmental, water supply, and economic
issues;
(3) evaluate opportunities to resolve the issues
referred to in paragraph (2); and
(4) evaluate options for implementation of reso-
lutions to the issues.