PUBLIC LAW 106-163—DEC. 9, 1999
113 STAT. 1789
TITLE II—TIBER RESERVOIR ALLOCA-
TION AND FEASIBILITY STUDIES AU-
THORIZATION.
SEC. 201. TIBER RESERVOIR.
(a) ALLOCATION OF WATER TO THE TRIBE. —
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall permanently allocate
to the Tribe, without cost to the Tribe, 10,000 acre-feet per
year of stored water from the water right of the Bureau of
Reclamation in Lake Elwell, Lower Marias Unit, Upper Missouri Division, Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program, Montana,
measured at the outlet works of the dam or at the diversion
point from the reservoir. The allocation shall become effective
when the decree referred to in section 101(b) has become final
in accordance with that section. The allocation shall be part
of the Tribal Water Right and subject to the terms of this
Act.
(2) AGREEMENT. —The Secretary shall enter into an agreement with the Tribe setting forth the terms of the allocation
and providing for the Tribe's use or temporary transfer of
water stored in Lake Elwell, subject to the terms and conditions
of the Compact and this Act.
(3) PRIOR RESERVED WATER RIGHTS.— The allocation provided in this section shall be subject to the prior reserved
water rights, if any, of any Indian tribe, or person claiming
water through any Indian tribe.
(b) USE AND TEMPORARY TRANSFER OF ALLOCATION. —
(1) IN GENERAL. —Subject to the limitations and conditions
set forth in the Compact and this Act, the Tribe shall have
the right to devote the water allocated by this section to any
use, including agricultural, municipal, commercial, industrial,
mining, or recreational uses, within or outside the Rocky Bo/s
Reservation.
(2) CONTRACTS AND AGREEMENTS.— Notwithstanding any
other provision of statutory or common law, the Tribe may,
with the approval of the Secretary and subject to the limitations
and conditions set forth in the Compact, enter into a service
contract, lease, exchange, or other agreement providing for
the temporary delivery, use, or transfer of the water allocated
by this section, except that no such service contract, lease,
exchange, or other agreement may permanently alienate any
portion of the tribal allocation.
(c) REMAINING STORAGE.— The United States shall retain the
right to use for any authorized purpose, any and all storage
remaining in Lake Elwell after the allocation made to the Tribe
in subsection (a).
(d) WATER TRANSPORT OBLIGATION; DEVELOPMENT AND
DELIVERY COSTS.— The United States shall have no responsibility
or obligation to provide any facility for the transport of the water
allocated by this section to the Rocky Boy's Reservation or to
any other location. Except for the contribution set forth in section
105(a)(3), the cost of developing and delivering the water allocated
by this title or any other supplemental water to the Rocky Boy's
Reservation shall not be borne by the United States.
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