Sponsors (2)
Introduced March 11, 2025 by Mark Edward Kelly · Last progress March 11, 2025
The bill provides substantial, long‑term federal funding and legally ratified water allocations that can secure and build tribal water infrastructure, while trading away some tribal autonomy, imposing federal conditions and administrative hurdles, and creating notable taxpayer fiscal exposure.
Tribal communities (Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe, San Juan Southern Paiute) will receive large, dedicated federal funding and trust accounts to build, operate, and maintain water projects (potable water systems, pipelines, OM&R), improving local water access and long‑term infrastructure reliability.
Tribal nations and allottees gain legal certainty through a ratified settlement that defines water rights and resolves many past and future claims, reducing litigation risk and enabling implementation of water projects.
Tribal governments receive defined Colorado River water allocations, permanent delivery contracts, and limited leasing/exchange authority (with short‑term caps), giving tribes clearer, long‑term water supplies and new opportunities to generate revenue or manage supplies.
Taxpayers and the federal budget face large upfront and potential ongoing costs (statutory transfers and appropriations totaling billions and possible additional O&M or cost‑overruns), increasing federal outlays and fiscal exposure.
Tribes and tribal members must accept significant limits and federal conditions (statutory waivers of broad claims, required Secretary approvals for withdrawals, APA‑limited judicial review, and limited sovereign immunity waivers), reducing tribal autonomy and curtailing legal recourse on future or contested water claims.
Implementation is highly conditional and administratively burdensome—access to funds and project delivery hinge on an Enforceability Date, multiple executed agreements, reporting requirements, cost‑share obligations, and federal approvals—creating risk of delay, reversion of funds, or project interruption.
Based on analysis of 42 sections of legislative text.
Creates a comprehensive water-rights settlement that allocates specific Colorado River water entitlements to the Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe, and San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe; establishes multiple tribal trust funds and an implementation fund; authorizes construction, governance, transfer, and operation of the iiná bá – paa tuwaqat’si pipeline; and requires the execution of waivers/releases and limited sovereign-immunity consents tied to an enforceability condition. The measure directs large mandatory Treasury deposits to finance planning, environmental compliance, construction, and tribal trust accounts, sets detailed accounting and leasing rules for Upper‑ and Lower‑Basin Colorado River water, and prescribes reporting, environmental compliance, and limits on judicial review for certain Secretary decisions.