106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3468
AN ACT
To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey to
certain water rights to Duchesne City, Utah.
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3468
AN ACT
To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey to certain
water rights to Duchesne City, Utah.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Duchesne City Water
Rights Conveyance Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) In 1861, President Lincoln established the
Uintah Valley Reservation by Executive order. The
Congress confirmed the Executive order in 1864 (13
Stat. 63), and additional lands were added to form
the Uintah Indian Reservation (now known as the
Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation).
(2) Pursuant to subsequent Acts of Congress,
lands were allotted to the Indians of the reservation,
and unallotted lands were restored to the public do-
main to be disposed of under homestead and town-
site laws.
(3) In July 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt
reserved lands for the townsite for Duchesne, Utah,
by Presidential proclamation and pursuant to the
applicable townsite laws.
(4) In July 1905, the United States, through
the Acting United States Indian Agent in Behalf of
the Indians of the Uintah Indian Reservation, Utah,
filed 2 applications, 43–180 and 43–203, under the
laws of the State of Utah to appropriate certain wa-
ters.
(5) The stated purposes of the water appropria-
tion applications were, respectively, ‘‘for irrigation
and domestic supply for townsite purposes in the
lands herein described’’, and ‘‘for the purpose of irri-
gating Indian allotments on the Uintah Indian Res-
ervation, Utah, . . . and for an irrigating and do-
mestic water supply for townsite purposes in the
lands herein described’’.
(6) The United States subsequently filed
change applications which provided that the entire
appropriation would be used for municipal and do-
mestic purposes in the town of Duchesne, Utah.
(7) The State Engineer of Utah approved the
change applications, and the State of Utah issued
water right certificates, identified as Certificate
Numbers 1034 and 1056, in the name of the United
States Indian Service in 1921, pursuant to the ap-
plications filed, for domestic and municipal uses in
the town of Duchesne.
(8) Non-Indians settled the town of Duchesne,
and the inhabitants have utilized the waters appro-
priated by the United States for townsite purposes.
(9) Pursuant to title V of Public Law 102–575,
Congress ratified the quantification of the reserved
waters rights of the Ute Indian Tribe, subject to re-
ratification of the water compact by the State of
Utah and the Tribe.
(10) The Ute Indian Tribe does not oppose leg-
islation that will convey the water rights appro-
priated by the United States in 1905 to the city of
Duchesne because the appropriations do not serve
the purposes, rights, or interests of the Tribe or its
members, because the full amount of the reserved
water rights of the Tribe will be quantified in other
proceedings, and because the Tribe and its members
will receive substantial benefits through such legisla-
tion.
(11) The Secretary of the Interior requires ad-
ditional authority in order to convey title to those
appropriations made by the United States in 1905
in order for the city of Duchesne to continue to
enjoy the use of those water rights and to provide
additional benefits to the Ute Indian Tribe and its
members as originally envisioned by the 1905 appro-
priations.
SEC. 3. CONVEYANCE OF WATER RIGHTS TO DUCHESNE
CITY, UTAH.
(a) CONVEYANCE.—The Secretary of the Interior, as
soon as practicable after the date of the enactment of this
Act, and in accordance with all applicable law, shall convey
to Duchesne City, Utah, or a water district created by
Duchesne City, all right, title, and interest of the United
States in and to those water rights appropriated under
the laws of the State of Utah by the Department of the
Interior’s United States Indian Service and identified as
Water Rights Nos. 43–180 (Certificate No. 1034) and 43–
203 (Certificate No. 1056) in the records of the State En-
gineer of Utah.
(b) REQUIRED TERMS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—As terms of any conveyance
under subsection (a), the Secretary shall require
that Duchesne City—
(A) shall allow the Ute Indian Tribe of the
Uintah and Ouray Reservation, its members,
and any person leasing or utilizing land that is
held in trust for the Tribe by the United States
and is located within the Duchesne City water
service area (as such area may be adjusted
from time to time), to connect to the Duchesne
City municipal water system;
(B) shall not require such tribe, members,
or person to pay any water impact, connection,
or similar fee for such connection; and
(C) shall not require such tribe, members,
or person to deliver or transfer any water or
water rights for such connection.
(2) LIMITATION.—Paragraph (1) shall not be
construed to prohibit Duchesne City from charging
any person that connects to the Duchesne City mu-
nicipal water system pursuant to paragraph (1) rea-
sonable, customary, and nondiscriminatory fees to
recover costs of the operation and maintenance of
the water system to treat, transport, and deliver
water to the person.
SEC. 4. WATER RIGHTS.
(a) NO RELINQUISHMENT OR REDUCTION.—Except
as provided in section 3, nothing in this Act may be con-
strued as a relinquishment or reduction of any water
rights reserved, appropriated, or otherwise secured by the
United States in the State of Utah on or before the date
of the enactment of this Act.
(b) NO PRECEDENT.—Nothing in this Act may be
construed as establishing a precedent for conveying or oth-
erwise transferring water rights held by the United States.
SEC. 5. TRIBAL RIGHTS.
Nothing in this Act may be construed to affect or
modify any treaty or other right of the Ute Indian Tribe
or any other Indian tribe.
Passed the House of Representatives July 25, 2000.
Attest:
Clerk.