Ohkay Owingeh Rio Chama Water Rights Settlement Act of 2025
Summary
What This Bill Does
The bill defines states the purposes of the Act: to settle water rights claims for Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo in the Rio Chama Stream System, authorize the Agreement between parties, and authorize funding for implementation, defines key terms including Adjudication, Agreement, bosque, Enforceability Date, Pueblo Water Rights, Rio Chama Stream System, Secretary (of Interior), and Trust Fund, and authorizes, ratifies, and confirms the water rights settlement Agreement between Ohkay Owingeh, the State of New Mexico, and other parties. Requires Secretary of Interior to execute the Agreement and comply. It relies on liability protections, definition changes, compliance mandates, and appropriations. The main policy areas are Water Rights, Agriculture, Finance, and Housing.
Who Benefits and How
Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo could gain revenue opportunities, United States (Federal Government) could face reduced risk, and Signatory Acequias could gain revenue opportunities.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Secretary of the Interior would take on compliance duties, Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo could face increased risk, and Federal taxpayers could face higher costs.
Key Provisions
- Defines states the purposes of the Act: to settle water rights claims for Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo in the Rio Chama Stream System, authorize the Agreement between parties, and authorize funding for implementation.
- Defines key terms including Adjudication, Agreement, bosque, Enforceability Date, Pueblo Water Rights, Rio Chama Stream System, Secretary (of Interior), and Trust Fund.
- Authorizes, ratifies, and confirms the water rights settlement Agreement between Ohkay Owingeh, the State of New Mexico, and other parties. Requires Secretary of Interior to execute the Agreement and comply...
- Establishes that Pueblo Water Rights are held in trust by the United States and protected from loss through non-use, forfeiture, or abandonment. Allows the Pueblo to lease water rights for up to 99 years on or off...
- Establishes the Ohkay Owingeh Water Rights Settlement Trust Fund managed by the Secretary.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
The bill defines states the purposes of the Act: to settle water rights claims for Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo in the Rio Chama Stream System, authorize the Agreement between parties, and authorize funding for implementation, defines key terms including Adjudication, Agreement, bosque, Enforceability Date, Pueblo Water Rights, Rio Chama Stream System, Secretary (of Interior), and Trust Fund, and authorizes, ratifies, and confirms the water rights settlement Agreement between Ohkay Owingeh, the State of New Mexico, and other parties. Requires Secretary of Interior to execute the Agreement and comply.
Key Policy Areas
Water Rights, Agriculture, Finance, Housing
Primary Purpose
The bill defines states the purposes of the Act: to settle water rights claims for Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo in the Rio Chama Stream System, authorize the Agreement between parties, and authorize funding for implementation, defines key terms including Adjudication, Agreement, bosque, Enforceability Date, Pueblo Water Rights, Rio Chama Stream System, Secretary (of Interior), and Trust Fund, and authorizes, ratifies, and confirms the water rights settlement Agreement between Ohkay Owingeh, the State of New Mexico, and other parties. Requires Secretary of Interior to execute the Agreement and comply.
Policy Domains
Ohkay Owingeh Rio Chama Water Rights Settlement Act of 2025
Identified Gains
- Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo
- United States (Federal Government)
- Signatory Acequias
- City of Espanola
- Water infrastructure contractors
Identified Costs
- Secretary of the Interior
- Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo
- Federal taxpayers
- State of New Mexico taxpayers
- State of New Mexico
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMs. Leger Fernandez (for herself and Ms. Stansbury) introduced the …
Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
City of Espanola, Corps of Engineers, Federal government (Department of Interior)
Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo faces effects in multiple directions
Positive-direction: City of Espanola, United States (Federal Government)
Negative-direction: Corps of Engineers, Federal government (Department of Interior), Secretary of the Interior
Signatory Acequias, Water users leasing from Pueblo
Legal and regulatory parties involved in water rights
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_state"
- → State of New Mexico
- "the_pueblo"
- → Ohkay Owingeh (federally recognized Indian nation)
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of the Interior
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
The general stream adjudication of water rights in the Rio Chama Stream System pending in U.S. District Court.
The Ohkay Owingeh Rio Chama Water Rights Settlement dated July 5, 2023.
A gallery forest along the riparian floodplain of a stream.
Date the Secretary publishes findings in the Federal Register.
The water rights of Ohkay Owingeh in the Rio Chama Stream System.
The Ohkay Owingeh Water Rights Settlement Trust Fund.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology