YourVoice.Now Summary
Average Household ImpactEnvironmental ConcernsTransparency & AccountabilitySettles Navajo, Hopi, and San Juan Southern Paiute water-rights claims in Arizona with $3.4 billion in tribal trust funds and a new pipeline for drinking water.
Average Household Impact
- Pipeline potable-water delivery to Navajo, Hopi, and San Juan Southern Paiute — up to 10,176 AFY combined
- Tribal trust funds for community water projects — covers Leupp, Dilkon, Ganado, Kayenta, and other towns
- Tribal waiver of water-rights claims — accepted in exchange for the settlement package
Environmental Concerns
- NEPA and Endangered Species Act compliance — required for settlement implementation
- NEPA major-federal-action review — Secretary's execution of the Settlement Agreement exempted
- System-conservation program — 20-year authority for 17,050 AFY of tribal water stored in Lake Powell
Transparency & Accountability
- Annual tribal expenditure reports — required to the Secretary on trust-fund use
- Trust-fund withdrawal controls — Secretary-approved management or expenditure plans required
- Per-capita distributions of trust-fund principal or interest to tribal members — barred
- Judicial review of Secretary's plan-approval decisions — limited to Administrative Procedure Act grounds
The details
Ratifies a long-negotiated settlement of water-rights claims across northeastern Arizona. It covers the Navajo Nation, the Hopi Tribe, and the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe. The Navajo Nation gets 44,700 acre-feet per year of Upper Basin Colorado River water. The Hopi Tribe gets 2,300, plus Lower Basin and tributary rights. A new pipeline, the iina ba - paa tuwaqat'si, would run from Lake Powell. It would deliver up to 7,100 acre-feet per year of potable water to Navajo communities. Hopi communities would get 3,076, and the San Juan Southern Paiute Southern Area 350. The bill mandatorily appropriates $1.715 billion for the pipeline. Another $3.421 billion funds three tribal water-settlement trust funds. These split as Navajo $2.876B, Hopi $515M, and San Juan Southern Paiute $29.8M. The funds cover construction, operation and maintenance, agricultural conservation, and renewable energy. Substantial pipeline completion is due by December 31, 2040. A 20-year program would conserve 17,050 acre-feet per year at Lake Powell. In exchange, the tribes waive past, present, and future water-rights claims against Arizona, other tribes, and the United States. They also ratify the Treaty creating an approximately 5,400-acre San Juan Southern Paiute Reservation. The bill requires NEPA and Endangered Species Act compliance, annual tribal expenditure reports, and Secretary approval of tribal plans before trust-fund withdrawals.
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
- Senate
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in Senate
- Action Date
- 2025-03-11
- Date Added
- 2026-05-07
- Source
- Congress.gov →
Like reading a bill in plain English?
We're building an app that does this for every bill in Congress and lets you tell your reps how you want them to vote. We're a small team getting ready to launch, and we're trying to show investors that real people want this. Be one of them. Help us get it built. Leave your email and we'll tell you the moment the app is ready.