Half a billion allocated for Indian water right claims

Sec. Deb Haaland poses for a picture with Jr. Miss Gila River Sineca Jackson during her visit to the Gila River Indian Community on Feb. 22, 2022. Photo Credit: Gila River Indian News

WASHINGTON, DC— The Department of the Interior recently announced a nearly $580 million allocation to continue fulfilling settlements of Indian water rights claims using funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Reclamation Water Settlements Fund.

“Water is a sacred resource, and water rights are crucial to ensuring the health, safety and empowerment of Tribal communities. Through this funding, the Interior Department will continue to uphold our trust responsibilities and ensure that Tribal communities receive the water resources they have long been promised,” said Secretary Deb Haaland. “I am grateful that Tribes, some of whom have been waiting for this funding for decades, are finally getting the resources they are owed with the help of this crucial funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.”

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests more than $13 billion directly in Tribal communities across the country. That includes $2.5 billion to implement the Indian Water Rights Settlement Completion Fund, which will help deliver long-promised water resources to Tribes, certainty to all their non-Native neighbors, and a solid foundation for future economic development for entire communities dependent on common water resources.

The Department will allocate nearly $460 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Indian Water Rights Settlement Completion Fund this year for settlements enacted prior to November 15, 2021, and $120 million from the Reclamation Water Settlement Fund. The Reclamation Water Settlement Fund was created by Congress in 2009 and receives $120 million in mandatory funding annually from 2020 through 2029.

There were 34 congressionally enacted Indian Water Rights settlements as of November 15, 2021, when the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was signed. Indian reserved water rights are vested property rights for which the United States has a trust responsibility. Federal policy supports the resolution of disputes regarding Indian water rights through negotiated settlements. Settlement of Indian water rights disputes breaks down barriers and helps create conditions that improve water resources management by providing certainty as to the rights of all water users who are parties to the disputes.

The following settlements will receive funding this year:

Settlement	Total
Aamodt Litigation Water Rights Settlement	$30,500,000
Ak-Chin Indian Water Rights Settlement Operations, Maintenance & Replacement	$22,000,000
Animas-La Plata (Colorado Ute) Operations, Maintenance & Replacement	$3,300,000
AZ Water Settlements Act Implementation – San Carlos Irrigation Project Rehabilitation	$18,225,000
Blackfeet Water Rights Settlement	$45,279,000
Confederated Salish Kootenai Tribes – Montana Water Rights Protection Act	$156,937,000
Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement	$30,000,000
Gila River Indian Community – Pima Maricopa Irrigation Project	$79,000,000
Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Operations, Maintenance & Replacement	$2,000,000
Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project	$137,000,000
Navajo-Utah Water Settlement	$39,114,000
Nez Perce Water Rights Settlement Operations, Maintenance & Replacement	$6,700,000
San Carlos Apache Tribe (Distribution System)	$1,500,000
So. Arizona Water Rights Settlement – Farm Extension	$8,000,000