Sponsors (2)
Official title: To approve the settlement of the water rights claims of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, and for other purposes.
Introduced November 7, 2025 by Ken Calvert · Last progress November 7, 2025
The bill secures a prioritized, trust-held water right and large federal investment to settle tribal claims and enable water infrastructure—providing legal finality and resources for the Tribe—while trading away many past and future claims, shifting regulatory and fiscal authority, imposing conditional approvals and oversight that can delay or reverse implementation, and creating fiscal and environmental oversight tradeoffs for local governments, ratepayers, and taxpayers.
Agua Caliente tribal members and Allottees gain a federally recognized, prioritized groundwater right (up to 20,000 AFY with an 1876–1877 priority date) placed in trust, protecting long‑term tribal water access and preventing forfeiture.
Tribal community receives substantial, dedicated funding (immediate $50M access plus an indexed $500M program fund and an invested trust) to build groundwater augmentation, water management, O&M, and related infrastructure, enabling multi‑year projects and improved water reliability.
About 2,742 acres (and other identified federal tracts) will be placed into trust for the Tribe, increasing tribal land base, strengthening tribal governance over land use, and removing those parcels from public land/mining statutes.
Tribal members, Allottees, and the United States waive many historical claims and damages up to the Act's enforceability date, eliminating many avenues for future recovery and leaving some past harms unrecoverable.
Implementation and funding are conditional—many actions require congressional appropriations, Secretary certifications, or judicial decree—so if funds/approvals are withheld or delayed the settlement may not take effect and committed actions or projects could be voided or reversed.
The Act preempts certain state and local water regulation in the subbasin and grants the Tribe broad authority to set fees and delivery rates, potentially raising costs for non‑tribal users and creating legal conflict with water districts and state agencies.
Based on analysis of 28 sections of legislative text.
Ratifies a Tribal Water Right (up to 20,000 AFY), moves federal land into trust, authorizes $500M in indexed Treasury transfers to a settlement trust, and preempts county tax when the Tribe imposes a Tribal Tax.
Settles and implements a comprehensive water-rights and land-transfer agreement for the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, creating a Tribal Water Right, placing specified federal lands into trust for the Tribe, authorizing sale of certain federal facility lands to a local water district, and establishing a multi-account settlement trust funded by mandatory Treasury transfers. The law ratifies and directs execution of an implementing Agreement with Coachella Valley Water District and Desert Water Agency, requires mutual waivers of many historic water and related claims, sets environmental compliance and cultural‑resource procedures, and conditions enforceability on prescribed administrative and funding steps before the Act takes effect.