YourVoice.Now Summary
Your MoneyCivil LibertiesCorporate BenefitsEnvironmentTransparency & AccountabilityTargeted & Unrelated ProvisionsSpends $5.14 billion to pipe Colorado River water to Navajo, Hopi, and Paiute homes — tribes drop their water claims for good.
Your Money
The Bureau of Reclamation would build the pipeline from Lake Powell. It would serve Navajo and Hopi communities. Most of it must be done by December 31, 2040. The tribes and the Interior Secretary can agree to more time.
The trust fund money could not be split among tribal members. It can only pay for water projects and their upkeep. It can also pay for farm water savings and land buys.
Half of the Navajo and Hopi trust funds would be held back at first. The hold lasts until Reclamation finishes a design and cost estimate. That reserve is there in case the pipeline costs more than $1.72 billion.
Civil Liberties
Landowners and water users along the Little Colorado and Gila rivers gain a right. They could name a tribe in a suit about the settlement. They could not ask for money, court costs, or lawyer fees.
Once the deal takes effect, the tribes could no longer claim more water in Arizona. That holds for their members too. They could still go to court to enforce the settlement itself.
The tribes would drop old claims against the United States. Those cover water systems never built and dam safety work never done. They also cover harm to hunting, fishing, and cultural sites from lost water.
Navajo allottees are individual Indians who hold trust land. They would have to use the Navajo Nation's own water appeals first. The Nation must build that appeal system. The Interior Secretary must approve it.
Corporate Benefits
Farms, cities, utilities, and companies across Arizona would gain a shield. The three tribes could no longer sue them over water rights. The shield covers old claims and future ones, with no end date.
Environment
The Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe would set aside part of their river water. It would sit in Lake Powell for 20 years to help the river. The tribes would be paid for leaving it there.
Signing the deal would not count as a major federal action. So it needs no study of harm to the land or water. The pipeline itself would still get a full review.
Transparency & Accountability
The Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe would report to Arizona every March. They would list how much water they took, stored, and leased. They would also put meters at each point where they draw water. Reports start the year after the deal takes effect.
The Interior Secretary must publish findings that every condition is met. One condition is that all $5.14 billion is deposited. If that slips past June 30, 2035, the law is repealed. The money would return to the Treasury.
Money the tribes earn from leasing water is theirs alone. The United States would have no duty to watch or account for it.
Targeted & Unrelated Provisions
A water bill would also settle a land dispute. The San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe would get about 5,400 acres in trust. It would hold full authority over that land. The Navajo Nation holds it today and agreed in a treaty signed in 2000.
More about this bill
Homes in three Arizona tribal nations would get piped drinking water. A new pipeline would carry treated water from Lake Powell. The Navajo Nation would get up to 7,100 acre-feet a year. Navajo communities would take 6,750 of that, and the San Juan Southern Paiute 350. The Hopi Tribe would get up to 3,076. The federal government would pay $5.14 billion for the deal. About $1.72 billion would build the pipeline. The other $3.42 billion would go into three tribal trust funds. The pipeline would have to be mostly finished by December 31, 2040. In exchange, the three tribes would give up their water claims for good. That covers past and future claims against Arizona, other tribes, and private water users. It also drops claims against the United States. Those include claims over its past failure to build water systems or fix dams. The deal only starts once two state courts approve it and the money is deposited. If that does not happen by June 30, 2035, the law would be repealed. The money would then go back to the Treasury. The tribes would gain firm rights to Colorado River water. The Navajo Nation would hold 44,700 acre-feet a year from the Upper Basin. The Hopi Tribe would hold 2,300. Neither could lose those rights by not using them. Both could lease water they do not need to Arizona cities and farms. They would keep all of that money. Leases off the reservation could run up to 100 years. For the first 20 years, the two tribes would leave 17,050 acre-feet a year in Lake Powell. A separate section would create a reservation for the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe. About 5,400 acres inside the Navajo Reservation would be held in trust for that tribe. It would gain full authority there, and the Navajo Nation would lose it. Both tribes agreed to this in a treaty signed in 2000. This section would take effect right away. It would stand even if the rest of the law is repealed.
Congressional Summary
Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement Act of 2025This bill recognizes and settles certain water rights claims in Arizona of the Navajo Nation, the Hopi Tribe, and the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe. It also provides funding for a water pipeline and three settlement trust funds. Specifically, the bill authorizes, ratifies, and confirms a specified water rights settlement agreement entered into by the tribes, the United States, Arizona, and others, thus satisfying claims to water rights in Arizona (including with respect to the Little Colorado River and the Colorado River).Additionally, the bill outlines the water rights of the tribes. For example, the bill allocates and assigns Colorado River water from Arizona's share to the Navajo Nation and the Hopi Tribe.The bill establishes and provides funding for an implementation fund account for the Bureau of Reclamation to plan, design, and construct a pipeline to deliver water to the tribes.Further, the bill establishes and provides funding for the Navajo Nation Water Settlement Trust Fund, the Hopi Tribe Water Settlement Trust Fund, and the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe Water Settlement Trust Fund.The bill also establishes a reservation consisting of approximately 5,400 acres of land in Arizona and Utah for the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe by ratifying and confirming the treaty entered into by the Navajo Nation and the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe.The bill outlines waivers, releases, and retention of claims by the tribes and the United States under the settlement agreement.
Legislative Subjects
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2025-03-11
- Date Added
- 2026-05-12
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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