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Attorney: Steve Moore
Case Update
On March
23, 2005, the Nez Perce Tribal
Committee (NPTEC) accepted
the final terms of the water
rights claims in the State
of Idaho's Snake River Basin
Adjudication (SRBA) in an historic
6 to 2 vote. By accepting the
proposed settlement, the Nez
Perce Tribe has agreed to:
- 50,000 acre feet of water
decreed to the Tribe for
on-reservation uses;
- Instream flows decreed
on almost 200 Tribal priority
streams to be held by the
state of Idaho;
- 600 springs claims decreed
on about 6 million acres
of Federal land in the Tribe's
1863 ceded area;
- Over 11,000 acres of on-reservation
Bureau of Land Management
land transferred to the Tribe
in trust;
- $96 million in three separate
funds, for Tribal drinking
water and sewer projects,
water development projects,
in addition to various Tribal
projects including cultural
preservation and fishery
habitat improvements.
NARF has represented the Nez Perce Tribe in
Idaho in the SRBA – both litigation and settlement phases – for
over 16 years. Congress enacted the Snake River Settlement Act
of 2004 last November, and President Bush signed it into law on
December 8, 2004. The Idaho Legislature approved the agreement
and Governor Kempthorne signed the approval legislation in March
2005. The approval by NPTEC represented the final sign-off by the
three sovereigns. The Idaho water court will now undertake the
final approval of the settlement and the entry of decrees to the
water rights for the Tribe.
In a March 29, 2005 Press Release Nez Perce Tribal Chairman Anthony Johnson was quoted as saying "Unlike the uncertainty involved in litigating such water right claims, the Nez Perce Tribe, by agreeing to the terms of the proposed settlement, was able to have a voice in the decision making involved in the final determination of our water right claims. Although far from perfect, we felt this proposed settlement was in the best interest of the long term future of the Tribe."
This is a major accomplishment for the Nez Perce Tribe and its members. This settlement represents the merging of traditional Indian water rights settlement elements with other major environmental issues confronting all of the people of Idaho. It could well be looked at by other states and tribes and federal land management agencies in the west seeking to sort out Indian water claims and other challenges presented by the federal Endangered Species Act and the Clean Water Act.
We continue to work with the Tribe to secure final approval of the settlement by the SRBA water court, and on the federal appropriations process. Work is underway on FY 2008 appropriations.
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