Tabulation of Ute Indian Water Rights.
Utah Code § 73-21-105
in effect73-21-105. Tabulation of Ute Indian Water Rights.
PURPOSE
This tabulation of Ute Indian Water Rights is prepared pursuant to and in accordance with the Ute Indian Water Compact of 1990 between the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation, Utah, the State of Utah and the United States of America concerning the water rights of the Ute Indian Tribe. The purpose of this Tabulation is to fully identify and define all federal reserved water rights of the Ute Indian Tribe.
FORWARD
In December, 1960 the Ute Tribe submitted to the Utah State Engineer a report entitled Water Right Claims, Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation, Utah, prepared by E.L. Decker, tribal engineer, and commonly referred to as the Decker Report. This report was prepared to identify both the Tribe's present irrigated acreage and also those lands that are susceptible to irrigation, for which a water right was claimed under the doctrine expressed in Winters v. United States, 207, U.S. 546 (1908). The acreages listed in the Decker report, as amended, were used as a basis for this Tabulation.
The Decker Report divided the lands into seven different groups for identification purposes, which are incorporated herein:
Group (1): Lands included within the Uintah Indian Irrigation Project, the water right to which has been certificated by the State of Utah and included within Federal Court Decrees adjudicating water rights of the Lakefork, Yellowstone, Uinta and Whiterock Rivers.
Group (2): Lands included in the Uintah Indian Irrigation Project, the water right to which has been certificated by the State of Utah, served from the Duchesne River, including the townsites of Duchesne, Randlett and Myton.
Group (3): Lands that are or can be served from the Duchesne River through the facilities of the Uintah Indian Irrigation Project which lands have not been certificated by the State of Utah.
Group (4): Lands which have been found to be productive and economically feasible to irrigate from privately constructed ditch systems on the Duchesne River or its tributaries above the Pahcease Canal.
Group (5): Lands which have been found to be susceptible to irrigation and are proposed to be developed within the Central Utah Project.
Group (6): Lands lying east of the Green River served from the White River for which Applications to Appropriate Water were once filed with the State of Utah.
Group (7): Lands lying east of the Green River which have been found to be productive and economically feasible to irrigate from privately constructed ditch systems now in operation or to be constructed along the Green River, White River, Willow Creek, Bitter Creek, Sweet Water Creek and Hill Creek.
A summary of the Ute Indian Tribe's total irrigable acreage, maximum allowable depletion and diversion requirement for each of the land groups, by streams, are contained in tables 1, 2, and 3, respectively.
Delivery schedules specifying the quantity of water to be diverted from the various streams are shown in tables 4 through 7. The quantity of water to be diverted into the various canals and/or ditches shall be determined based on the irrigable acreage as shown in the acreage tabulation, times the flow rate per acre corresponding to the period of time on the appropriate delivery schedule. The delivery schedules may be modified by mutual consent of the Tribe, State and other affected water users or through the pending general adjudication process. No delivery of water shall be made to lands until the lands are developed or an appropriate change application is filed and approved. For the Group 1 lands the diversion requirement was established at 3.40 acre-feet per acre under the 1980 Ute Indian Water Compact, of which 3.00 acre-feet per acre was to have been supplied from direct streamflow in accordance with the appropriate delivery schedule and the remaining 0.40 acre-feet per acre was to have been supplied from storage under the proposed Uintah and Upalco Units of the Central Utah Project. Such water delivered from storage (0.40 acre-feet per acre) was to assume, or if developed in the future will assume, the priority date of the Bureau of Reclamation water rights to accomplish the equitable allocation of water to all subscribers of the projects. Under the 1990 Compact such water will not be developed or delivered under the Upalco and Uintah Units. Nevertheless, this tabulation leaves in place the diversion and depletion quantities with respect to these Group 1 lands established under the 1980 Compact.
Within the group 1 lands there are 9,300 acres commonly referred to as Midview Exchange lands. As a result of this exchange these lands are now served from the Duchesne River and thus have a diversion requirement of 4.0 acre-feet per acre. Water for these lands shall be supplied in accordance with terms of the Midview Exchange Agreement.
The priority date of the group 1 through 5 lands is October 3, 1861. The source of supply for the group 5 lands has been transferred to the Green River, within the exterior reservation boundaries, and the Tribe waives any and all claims to develop the Group 5 lands in place as set forth in the Decker Report and identified in this tabulation. In transferring the Group 5 lands, 19,809 acres (which includes the 7 percent reduction) are transferred on an acre-per-acre bases, and 7,271 acres (which includes the 7 percent reduction) are transferred based upon depletion. In making the transfer based upon depletion the irrigable acreage is reduced by 1885.0 acres. The priority date of the group 6 and 7 lands is January 5, 1882, except those group 7 lands bearing the notation "To be determined" under the Priority Date. As to those certain group 7 lands the priority date shall be determined by mutual agreement, among the parties to the Compact on or before any call for such water is made or by binding arbitration using the following guidelines:
1. All matters are deemed resolved herein except the issue of the priority date for certain parcels of group 7 lands. That issue shall be submitted to an arbitrator who shall have the authority under Utah Revised Code Sections 78-31-1, et seq., to decide the unresolved factual issue as to the precise priority date for any parcel of group 7 lands specified in the Tabulation.
2. To reach a determination of the priority date, either the State of Utah or the Ute Tribe may request a panel of five water law experts. With the State of Utah striking first, the Ute Tribe and the State shall alternately strike names from the list until one name remains and such person shall be the arbitrator.
3. The decision of the arbitrator shall be final and shall conclusively determine the priority date in question.
4. The procedures of the American Arbitration Association shall govern any proceedings and the costs and expenses of the arbitrator shall be shared equally by the State and the Ute Tribe.
The acreage tabulations herein lists the land group, source of supply, canal or ditch (if applicable), point of diversion, irrigable acreage and place of use. The quantity of land to be irrigated is limited to the acreage listed as Irrigable Acreage and shall be located within the area described.
MUNICIPAL AND INDUSTRIAL WATER
In addition to the quantities of water set forth herein for the irrigable acreage of the Ute Indian Tribe, the United States of America in trust for the Ute Indian Tribe is allocated the depletion of 10,000 acre-feet of water annually for municipal, industrial and related purposes from the Green River. To the extent that the tribe or its members use water, other than for irrigation purposes, the quantity so used shall be included within said 10,000 acre feet unless a transfer of water from land listed in the tabulation is properly made. The priority date for the water provided under this paragraph is October 3, 1861. The Tribe and the State shall conduct a cooperative inventory to identify all existing non-irrigation water uses of the Tribe or its members to determine the remaining quantity of water available for diversion.
Enacted by Chapter 275, 2018 General Session
Source: Utah Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel (le.utah.gov)URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title73/Chapter21/73-21-S105.html?v=C73-21-S105_2018050820180508Fetched: 10/26/2026