The Western States Water Council and Native American Rights Fund held their sixteenth biennial Symposium on the Settlement of Indian Reserved Water Rights Claims on August 13-15, 2019. The meetings were held at the Harrah’s Resort Southern California in Funner, California.
PRESENTATIONS:
Tuesday, August 13, 2019
WESTERN WATER LAW AND INDIAN RESERVED WATER RIGHTS: A PRIMER
→ Norm Johnson, Natural Resources Division Director, Utah Attorney General’s Office
NEGOTIATION OF INDIAN WATER RIGHTS CLAIMS: THE BASICS
Gathering Background Information and the Role of Technicians in Negotiations
→ Jerry Lunak, Acting Director, Water Resources Department, Blackfeet Tribe
→ Doug Oellerman, Supervisory Civil Engineer, Bureau of Reclamation
WATER PLANNING: SCARCITY AND COLLABORATION
→ Kenneth Slowinski, Chief Counsel, Arizona Department of Water Resources
→ Leslie Meyers, Phoenix Area Manager, Bureau of Reclamation
→ Kevin Moran, Senior Director, Western Water, Environmental Defense Fund
Wednesday, August 14, 2019
THE ADMINISTRATION’S SETTLEMENT POLICY
→ Alan Mikkelsen, Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the Interior for Water and Western Resource Issues, Department of the Interior and Pam Williams, Director, Secretary’s Indian Water Rights Office, Department of the Interior
RESPONSE PANEL
→ Neil Peyron, Chairman, Tule River Tribal Council
FILM: San Luis Rey Indian Water Rights Settlement – “Once There Was a River”
DESCRIPTION OF THE SAN LUIS REY INDIAN WATER RIGHTS SETTLEMENT
→ Joe Vanderhorst, Assist. General Counsel, Metropolitan Water District of So. California
Thursday, August 15, 2019
SETTLEMENT IMPLEMENTATION: IMPACTS OF POLICY CHANGES
→ Shalee Russette, Project Manager, Chippewa Cree Construction Corp and Deon Stockert, Client Program Leader, Advanced Engineering and Environmental Services
SETTLEMENT LEGISLATION: GETTING BILLS THROUGH CONGRESS
Congressional Outlook for Indian Water Rights Settlements
→ Matthew Muirragui, Majority Staff Director, Subcommittee on Water, Oceans and Wildlife, House Natural Resources Committee