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MONDAY, JUNE 30, 2003

"In the case of Indian tribes, the costs of federal water development are forgiven under the conventional wisdom that all Indians are poor, as indeed many of them are. The Southern Utes, however, do not fit this convenient water-development model.

But the saga gets even juicier.

These two small tribes are about to be awarded an additional 70,000 acre feet of water through the federal construction of the infamous Animas-La Plata Project. This project is known locally as Jurassic Pork for its faithfulness to an antediluvian concept which calls for the public to give up its valuable water resources to private interests - in Colorado, the rivers belong to the people - and at the same time suffer the indignity of paying for the robbery."

Get the Story:
Phil Doe on Speakout: Utes profit from water boondoggle (The Denver Rocky Mountain News 6/30)

Relevant Links:
Southern Ute Tribe - http://www.southern-ute.nsn.us

Related Stories:
Budget funds tribal-regional water project (02/05)
N.M. share of water 'missing' (03/01)
Norton still leery of litigation (8/21)
Group opposes Ute water funds (4/16)
BIA proposal includes slight increases (4/10)
Costs of Ute water project criticized (2/14)
Navajo Nation supports Norton (1/30)
Ute water project passes Congress (12/18)
Water project may pass today (12/15)
Ute settlement held up in Congress (11/06)
Cost of Ute settlement questioned (11/2)
Campbell changes Ute bill (11/1)
Vote on water project stalled (10/20)
Ute settlement threatened, fears Campbell (10/13)