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Mattiponi loose round in resevoir fight
article , Va. Pilot 2-9-00 : by Erica Reif
Newport News

    The Mattiponi Indian Tribe suffered a setback in court on tuesday in it's
opposition to the proposed King William reservoir.
 The Court of Appeals of Va. ruled that the tribe could not challenge a state
Water Control Board permit issued to the city of Newport News in 1997 ,
because any potential injuries claimed by the tribe would result from a
pending federal permit rather than a state permit.
 The ruling follows a letter made public on friday by the Army Corps regional
office in Norfolk stating that the office is not likely to approve the
resevoir permit.
 If the regional office denies the permit , the application will be
automatically forwarded to the corps division headquarters in New York for a
decision based on Gov. Jim Gilmore's support of the project.
 Newport News Waterworks officials say the 150 million reservoir would
provide the Peninsula area through 2040.
 Col. Allan Carroll, head of the corps Norfolk office , said in his letter
that the "environmental impact of this project and the potential risk to the
culture and economies of the Tribes would be to great".
 Carroll's view backs opponents who say that the water drawn from the
reseviour would alter the salinity of the Mattiponi river and threaten the
tribes fishing , livelihood and cultural heritage.
  The Alliance to save the Mattiponi has filed a petition for an appeal to
the state supreme court of Va. That petition is pending.
    The Mattiponi case is based on 300 year old treaty the tribe says
obligates the state to protect any encroachment of the Mattiponi Reservation.
Defendants countered that the three miles noted was mearly a buffer zone
between warring colonists and the tribe and not tribal property.
  A panel of three judges considered that argument as well as claims of
discrimination based on the federal Civil Rights Act. It determined that
injuries to the tribe , if any, would arise from the federal permit at some
point in the future, rather than from the state.

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