Luján, Heinrich Applaud Senate Passage of Legislation to Amend Water Rights Settlements and Return Earned Interest to Tribes

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, and U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) applauded Senate passage of the Technical Corrections to the Northwestern New Mexico Rural Water Projects Act, Taos Pueblo Indian Water Rights Settlement Act, and Aamodt Litigation Settlement Act, legislation led by Senator Luján that authorizes the release of $18.312 million in water settlement interest funds to New Mexico Tribes to support water development projects.

Specifically, the bill authorizes the appropriation of $6.3 million for the Navajo Nation Water Resources Development Fund; $7.8 million for the Taos Pueblo Water Development Fund; and $4.3 million for the Aamodt Settlement Pueblos' Fund, which covers Nambé, Pojoaque, San Ildefonso, and Tesuque Pueblos. The bill provides a technical fix so Tribes can access interest payments they are owed on their trust funds. The additional interest funding will support water resources development projects for the affected Tribes. The bill is led by Senator Luján and Representative Leger Fernández. Senator Heinrich and Representative Stansbury are original cosponsors.

"Water is a fundamental part of the federal trust responsibility," said Senator Luján. "Amending current law is vital to ensure the Navajo Nation, Taos Pueblo, and Aamodt Settlement Pueblos have access to clean, safe, and reliable water resources. I'm proud to have led the charge to get this legislation through the Senate, and to push for impacted Tribes to collect the interest owed to support critical water infrastructure projects. Getting this legislation through the Senate is a vital step and we must continue to honor our trust responsibility and promote water security for Tribes and Pueblos, as well as non-Tribal users, in New Mexico."

"I'm proud the Senate passed our legislation, acknowledging the Federal government's continued role in ensuring these Tribes have the necessary resources to use the water they own," said Senator Heinrich. "The amendments to these settlements will also ensure water security for many communities in northwest New Mexico. I urge the House to quickly take up and pass these bills to help New Mexico communities modernize and secure their water infrastructure."

"Indian water rights settlements are not abstract promises-they're about whether families have clean, reliable water today and for generations to come," said Representative Teresa Leger Fernández, House lead of the legislation. "This bill is a common sense fix to make sure Tribes receive the interest they rightfully earned on their own trust funds. Returning these dollars to the Navajo Nation and Pueblos of Taos, Nambé, Pojoaque, San Ildefonso, and Tesuque honors our federal trust responsibility so that water settlements actually deliver the infrastructure and security they were meant to provide."

Background:

Senator Luján and Representative Leger Fernández initially introduced this bill in December 2023.

Indian water rights settlements commonly allow the Secretary of the Interior to invest trust funds after the funds are appropriated. This provides tribes with additional resources to support their water infrastructure.

However, some Indian water rights settlements enacted in 2009 and 2010 prohibited the Secretary from investing the trust funds prior to the relevant settlement's enforcement date. That included the Northwestern New Mexico Rural Water Projects Act (Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project/Navajo Nation Water Rights), the Taos Pueblo Indian Water Rights Settlement Act, and the Aamodt Litigation Settlement Act.

As a result, the affected Tribes lost out on interest that was or could have been earned from investing the trust funds between the date they were appropriated and the settlement enforcement date. Instead of allowing the tribes to keep the interest, as many settlements allow, the funds were returned to the Treasury. This legislation provides a technical fix so that the affected tribes can receive that interest.

Read the full bill text here.

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