HR2025-119

What This Bill Does

The Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement Act is a major tribal water-rights and infrastructure settlement. It ratifies and executes the settlement agreement, confirms water rights for the Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe, San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, Navajo allottees, and Hopi allottees, and allocates or assigns Colorado River water, including 44,700 acre-feet per year of Arizona Upper Basin Colorado River water and 3,500 acre-feet per year of uncontracted Fourth Priority Water to the Navajo Nation, subject to settlement conditions. The bill authorizes tribal leases and exchanges of certain Colorado River water, directs the Interior Secretary through Reclamation to plan, design, and construct the settlement pipeline with power facilities, creates a pipeline implementation account, establishes Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe, and San Juan Southern Paiute water settlement trust funds, and appropriates $1.715 billion for pipeline planning, engineering, design, environmental compliance, and construction. It also appropriates $3.4214 billion for tribal settlement trust funds, including $2.8764164 billion for Navajo accounts, $515.1836 million for Hopi accounts, and $29.8 million for San Juan Southern Paiute accounts. The bill conditions enforceability on settlement revisions, signatures, water-delivery contracts, waivers, and Federal Register findings; authorizes waivers and releases of water-rights claims while retaining specified enforcement rights; creates the San Juan Southern Paiute Reservation from about 5,400 acres held in trust; authorizes use of Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project facilities for up to 12,000 acre-feet per year of Navajo Nation Upper Basin water; and preserves other tribes' and public domain allottees' water claims.

Who Benefits and How

The Navajo Nation benefits from confirmed water rights, Colorado River allocations, leasing and exchange authority, trust-fund accounts, and settlement infrastructure. The Hopi Tribe benefits from confirmed water rights, Cibola and Upper Basin water provisions, trust-fund accounts, groundwater and conservation funding, and pipeline protections. The San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe benefits from confirmed settlement rights, a new reservation held in trust, and dedicated groundwater, OM&R, and agricultural conservation trust accounts. Navajo and Hopi allottees benefit from settlement provisions intended to provide benefits equivalent to or better than pre-enactment rights while avoiding litigation delay. Northeastern Arizona communities benefit from water infrastructure planning, delivery, storage, and accounting mechanisms tied to the settlement.

Who Bears the Burden and How

The Interior Department and Bureau of Reclamation must execute the settlement, form the project construction committee, build the pipeline, manage trust funds, and publish enforceability findings. The Treasury Department must transfer $1.715 billion for pipeline implementation and $3.4214 billion for tribal trust funds, with indexing adjustments. The Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe, San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, and United States must execute waivers and releases of covered claims for the settlement to become enforceable. Federal taxpayers fund the pipeline, trust funds, construction cost adjustments, and federal implementation responsibilities. Arizona water parties and Colorado River accounting agencies must operate under the settlement's allocation, delivery, lease, exchange, and accounting rules.

Key Provisions

• Ratifies and executes the Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement Agreement.
• Confirms water rights for the Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe, San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, and covered allottees.
• Authorizes Colorado River allocations, water leases, exchanges, water-delivery contracts, and Colorado River accounting rules.
• Creates the settlement pipeline account and Navajo, Hopi, and San Juan Southern Paiute water settlement trust funds.
• Appropriates $1.715 billion for pipeline implementation and $3.4214 billion for tribal water settlement trust funds.
• Creates the San Juan Southern Paiute Reservation and authorizes Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project facility use.