Since the 1970s, the Native American Rights Fund has helped Tribal Nations achieve their water goals to secure access to safe and reliable water supplies through multi-party, negotiated water rights settlements. Currently, in December 2024, a record 12 such settlements are pending in Congress. Legislators have the historic opportunity to save taxpayers millions of dollars and provide water-access certainty for Tribal and non-Tribal communities for generations to come. Help get the word out to your congressional delegation TODAY to support this slate of critical Tribal water rights settlements.
Urge your congressional delegation to pass all 12 water settlement bills!
Find your legislators here: Senate – https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm and
House – https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
Support Tribal Water Sovereignty!
Current Indian water rights settlements in Congress:
Tule River Tribe Reserved Water Rights Settlement Act of 2024: S.306 (Sen. Padilla); H.R. 8920 (Rep. Fong), introduced by U.S. Rep. Vince Fong (R-Calif.), approves and authorizes a water settlement agreement between the Tule River Tribe and downstream state-based water users, the Tule River Association, and the South Tule Independent Ditch Company. Tule River information available at https://www.southforktuleriveralliance.org/
Fort Belknap Indian Community Water Rights Settlement Act of 2024: S.1987 (Sen. Tester); H.R. 8791 (Rep. Zinke), introduced by U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.), includes identical language to H.R. 7240 and adds a provision authorizing appropriations for the Secretary of the Interior to develop a wastewater treatment facility for the benefit of the Blackfeet Tribe. Fort Belknap information available at https://ftbelknap.org/water-compact
Fort Belknap Indian Community Water Rights Settlement Act of 2024: HR. 7240, introduced by U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.), approves the Montana-Fort Belknap Indian Community Water Rights Compact, which is a result of negotiations regarding the Gros Ventre and Assiniboine Tribes with the United States regarding the tribes’ water rights.
Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement Act of 2024: S.4633 (Sen. Kelly); H.R. 8940 (Rep. Ciscomani), introduced by U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.), settles the water rights claims of the Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe, and San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe in Arizona. Navajo Nation information –available at https://nndoj.navajo-nsn.gov/Call-to-Action
Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project Amendments Act of 2023: S.1898 (Sen. Lujan); H.R. 3977 (Rep. Leger Fernandez), introduced by U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-N.M.), amends the Northwestern New Mexico Rural Water Projects Act authorized as part of the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009. Navajo Nation information available at https://nndoj.navajo-nsn.gov/Call-to-Action
Navajo Nation Rio San José Stream System Water Rights Settlement Act of 2024: S.4998 (Sen. Heinrich); H.R. 8945 (Rep. Leger Fernandez), introduced by U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-N.M.), settles all the Navajo Nation water rights claims in the Rio San José Basin in New Mexico. Additionally, this agreement describes and quantifies water rights for the Navajo Nation in the Rio Puerco Basin. Navajo Nation information available at https://nndoj.navajo-nsn.gov/Call-to-Action
Yavapai-Apache Nation Water Rights Settlement Act of 2024: S.4705 (Sen. Kelly); H.R. 8949 (Rep. Schweikert), introduced by U.S. Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.), authorizes the settlement agreement for the Yavapai-Apache Nation in Arizona. The settlement requires the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) to plan, design, and construct a water infrastructure project comprising two components: the Cragin-Verde Pipeline Project and the Yavapai-Apache Nation Drinking Water System Project. Yavapai Apache information available at https://yavapai-apache.org/waterrightssettlement/
Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement Amendments Act of 2024: S.4442 (Sen. Tester); H.R. 8953 (Rep. Zinke), introduced by U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.), amends the Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act of 2010 to ensure that the Tribe has the necessary flexibility and time to deliver clean water to communities on the reservation and complete critical energy development projects.
Rio San José and Rio Jemez Water Settlements Act of 2023: S.595 (Sen. Heinrich); H.R. 1304 (Rep. Leger Fernandez), introduced by U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-N.M.), authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to sign two separate water rights settlement agreements that impact four Pueblo chapters in Northern New Mexico.
Technical Corrections to the Northwestern New Mexico Rural Water Projects Act, Taos Pueblo Indian Water Rights Settlement Act, and Aamodt Litigation Settlement Act: S.3406 (Sen. Lujan); H.R. 6599 (Rep. Leger Fernandez), introduced by U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-N.M.), amends the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 and the Claims Resolution Act of 2010 to authorize funding for the Navajo Nation Water Resources Development Trust Fund, the Taos Pueblo Water Development Fund, and the Aamodt Settlement Pueblos’ Fund equivalent to the amounts that would have accrued to the trust funds if the Department of the Interior had the authority to invest the fund’s original appropriation.
Ohkay Owingeh Rio Chama Water Rights Settlement Act of 2024: S.4505 (Sen. Heinrich); H.R. 8685 (Rep. Leger Fernandez), introduced by U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-N.M.), approves the settlement agreement concerning the water rights claims of Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo in the general stream adjudication of the Rio Chama Stream System in New Mexico for uses including livestock, commercial, industrial, municipal and irrigation. Ohkay Owingeh information available at https://ohkay.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Ohkay-Owingeh-Rio-Chama-Aragon-Water-Rights-Settlement-Summary-9.12.2023.pdf
Zuni Indian Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act of 2024: S.4643 (Sen. Heinrich); H.R. 8951 (Rep. Vasquez), introduced by U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.), authorizes the Secretary to sign the fund-based water rights settlement agreement to settle claims and litigation between the Pueblo of Zuni, the United States, and the state of New Mexico.
Source: https://naturalresources.house.gov/calendar/eventsingle.aspx?EventID=416293; Senate bill information obtained from https://www.congress.gov/
More blog posts“Often, what starts as litigation to resolve competing claims, including federally reserved Indian water rights, results in settlement. Settlement can provide for actual wet water delivery, offers more flexible and localized solutions in administering Winters rights, provides certainty and economic development potential, and fulfills the federal trust responsibility to promote Indian self-determination and economic self-sufficiency. Settlement allows necessary parties to agree to specific terms in exchange for various promises, such as funding for infrastructure and the relinquishment of further litigation. A settlement agreement between states and tribes requires an act of Congress, though, and usually includes an appropriation of funding, which can pose significant hurdles to completion. ”
— From “Strange Bedfellows: States, Tribes, and Water Rights,” by NARF Staff Attorney Ada Montague Stepleton and NARF Summer Law Clerk Sapphire Carter (2024). Public Land & Resources Law Review: Vol. 47, Article 6.
