Rio San José and Rio Jemez Water Settlements Act of 2025

Summary

Establishes and ratifies negotiated water-rights settlements for two New Mexico stream systems (the Rio San José system and the Jemez River system), resolves pending water-rights claims tied to long-running adjudications, and directs the Secretary of the Interior to execute and implement the settlement agreements. The law creates and defines trust funds and water-rights categories, authorizes funding as needed to carry out the settlements, and sets a limited framework for state-court judicial review of Pueblo water-permit decisions once the settlements become enforceable.

• Ratifies and confirms negotiated water-rights settlement agreements for the Rio San José and Jemez River stream systems.
• Directs the Secretary of the Interior to execute the agreements and authorizes funding needed to implement them.
• Creates and defines trust funds and legal categories (e.g., Pueblo Land, Allotment, Partial Final Judgment) to carry out settlement obligations.
• On the enforceability date, grants limited state-court jurisdiction to review Pueblo water-permit decisions, constrained to the administrative record and specific standards.
• Affirms that the statute controls over inconsistent agreement provisions and preserves U.S. sovereign immunity unless Congress appropriates funds.
• Settles long-running water-rights claims that were part of consolidated 1983 adjudications in New Mexico.
• Clarifies Pueblo water-rights confirmation through Partial Final Judgments and Decrees largely modeled on the settlement documents.
• Implementation and federal performance obligations are contingent on future appropriations; the U.S. is not liable if Congress does not fund them.