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 substantial, enforceable tribal water rights, land-in-trust status, and large dedicated funding for Agua Caliente water projects—delivering legal certainty and infrastructure investment for the Tribe—while requiring tribes to waive many historical claims and creating conditional funding, local fiscal shifts, and reduced environmental and procedural safeguards that shift risk and control between the Tribe, federal officials, and local governments.
Agua Caliente Tribe and its members gain a federally recognized, secure tribal groundwater right (up to 20,000 AFY with an 1876–1877 priority date) placed in trust, protecting tribal water access and preventing forfeiture.
Tribe receives substantial, dedicated funding and trust assets (including a $500M authorization, a $50M immediate deposit, and a long‑term invested trust) to build and sustain groundwater augmentation, water management, and operations, maintenance & repair.
Large areas of land (including ~2,742 acres and specified BIA tracts) are taken into trust and additional federal lands/transfers/sales are authorized, enabling tribal land consolidation, clearer land management, and facilitation of local water projects.
Tribe, Allottees, and the United States waive and relinquish many historical and future claims tied to the covered matters, meaning tribal members give up the right to sue for additional recovery if the settlement or funding proves inadequate.
Many benefits and obligations depend on future congressional appropriations, certifications, and fulfillment of multiple preconditions, so tribal parties may not receive authorized benefits if funding or approvals are delayed or withheld; funds can also revert to the Treasury if conditions are not met.
County and local tax authority and revenue flows change: Riverside County loses some ad valorem authority, CVWD must pay fair market value (and conveyance costs) for lands, and proceeds may be deposited in federal accounts rather than used locally — creating local fiscal impacts and potential ratepayer burdens.
Based on analysis of 28 sections of legislative text.
Settles Agua Caliente water rights, moves specified federal lands into trust, authorizes a Tribal Tax in lieu of county property tax, and establishes a $500M settlement trust for water projects.
Settles and recognizes the Agua Caliente Band’s federal tribal water right (up to 20,000 AFY), transfers specified federal lands into trust for the Tribe, authorizes sale of a facility parcel to the Coachella Valley Water District, creates a dedicated Agua Caliente Settlement Trust Fund with mandatory Treasury transfers totaling $500 million (divided into four accounts), and authorizes a Tribal Tax in lieu of Riverside County ad valorem property tax for tribal possessory interests. The Act conditions enforcement on completion of an implementing Agreement, required Secretary findings, court decree approval, and funding deposits; it also contains waivers and releases of many water‑related claims among the Tribe, Allottees, local water agencies, and the United States as trustee.