Sec. 7. Storage allocation from Lake Elwell
700 words·~3 min read·
/bill/118/s/1987/es/section-7A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
The Secretary shall allocate to the Fort Belknap Indian Community 20,000 acre-feet per year of water stored in Lake Elwell for use by the Fort Belknap Indian Community for any beneficial purpose on or off the Reservation, under a water right held by the United States and managed by the Bureau of Reclamation for the benefit of the Fort Belknap Indian Community, as measured and diverted at the outlet works of the Tiber Dam or through direct pumping from Lake Elwell. The allocation to the Fort Belknap Indian Community under subsection
(a)shall be considered to be part of the Tribal water rights. The priority date of the allocation to the Fort Belknap Indian Community under subsection
(a)shall be the priority date of the Lake Elwell water right held by the Bureau of Reclamation. The Fort Belknap Indian Community shall administer the water allocated under subsection
(a)in accordance with the Compact and this Act. As a condition of receiving the allocation under this section, the Fort Belknap Indian Community shall enter into an agreement with the Secretary to establish the terms and conditions of the allocation, in accordance with the Compact and this Act. The agreement under paragraph
(1)shall include provisions establishing that— the agreement shall be without limit as to term; the Fort Belknap Indian Community, and not the United States, shall be entitled to all consideration due to the Fort Belknap Indian Community under any lease, contract, exchange, or agreement entered into by the Fort Belknap Indian Community pursuant to subsection (d); the United States shall have no obligation to monitor, administer, or account for— any funds received by the Fort Belknap Indian Community as consideration under any lease, contract, exchange, or agreement entered into by the Fort Belknap Indian Community pursuant to subsection (d); or the expenditure of those funds; if the capacity or function of Lake Elwell facilities are significantly reduced, or are anticipated to be significantly reduced, for an extended period of time, the Fort Belknap Indian Community shall have the same storage rights as other storage contractors with respect to the allocation under this section; the costs associated with the construction of the storage facilities at Tiber Dam allocable to the Fort Belknap Indian Community shall be nonreimbursable; no water service capital charge shall be due or payable for any water allocated to the Fort Belknap Indian Community under this section or the allocation agreement, regardless of whether that water is delivered for use by the Fort Belknap Indian Community or under a lease, contract, exchange, or by agreement entered into by the Fort Belknap Indian Community pursuant to subsection (d); the Fort Belknap Indian Community shall not be required to make payments to the United States for any water allocated to the Fort Belknap Indian Community under this section or the allocation agreement, except for each acre-foot of stored water leased or transferred for industrial purposes as described in subparagraph (H); and for each acre-foot of stored water leased or transferred by the Fort Belknap Indian Community for industrial purposes— the Fort Belknap Indian Community shall pay annually to the United States an amount necessary to cover the proportional share of the annual operations, maintenance, and replacement costs allocable to the quantity of water leased or transferred by the Fort Belknap Indian Community for industrial purposes; and the annual payments of the Fort Belknap Indian Community shall be reviewed and adjusted, as appropriate, to reflect the actual operations, maintenance, and replacement costs for Tiber Dam. The Fort Belknap Indian Community may use, lease, contract, exchange, or enter into other agreements for the use of the water allocated to the Fort Belknap Indian Community under subsection
(a)if— the use of water that is the subject of such an agreement occurs within the Missouri River Basin; and the agreement does not permanently alienate any water allocated to the Fort Belknap Indian Community under that subsection. The allocation under subsection
(a)takes effect on the enforceability date. The allocation under subsection
(a)shall not be increased by any year-to-year carryover storage. The United States shall not be required to pay the cost of developing or delivering any water allocated under this section.