PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Feb 13, 2025
Navajo Nation Rio San José Stream System Water Rights Settlement Act of 2025
This bill recognizes and settles certain water rights claims in New Mexico of the Navajo Nation. It also establishes and provides funding for a settlement trust fund.
Specifically, the bill authorizes, ratifies, and confirms a specified water rights settlement agreement entered into by the Navajo Nation, New Mexico, and others, thus satisfying claims to water rights in the Rio San José Stream System in New Mexico.
The bill establishes and provides funding for the Navajo Nation Rio San José Water Rights Settlement Trust Fund (and specified accounts) for purposes of carrying out this bill.
Additionally, the bill (1) specifies the water rights of the tribe; and (2) outlines waivers, releases, and retentions of claims by the tribe and the United States.
The bill also allows for additional service areas for the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project.
People & committees
Rep. Leger Fernandez, Teresa [D-NM-3] · D–NM
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
Source last updated: Dec 9, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-13 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
This proposal would approve a water-rights settlement for the Navajo Nation, protect its covered water rights from loss through non-use, and provide federal money for water supplies and infrastructure. In exchange, the Nation would give up specified water-related claims. The bill generally preserves allottee water rights and claims, but one waiver expressly includes the Nation in its capacity as an allottee; the supplied materials do not resolve that interaction. Most settlement funds would become available only after legal and funding conditions are met.
Except as modified by this Act, and to the extent that the Agreement does not conflict with this Act, the Agreement is authorized, ratified, and confirmed.
The Navajo Nation’s Water Rights shall not be subject to loss through non-use, forfeiture, abandonment, or other operation of law.
Mandatory appropriations Out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer to the Secretary the following amounts for deposit in the following accounts:
The Navajo Nation Water Rights Settlement Account may only be used for the following purposes: (A) Acquiring water rights or water supply. (B) Planning, permitting, designing, engineering, constructing, reconstructing, replacing, rehabilitating, operating, or repairing water production, treatment, or delivery infrastructure, including for domestic and municipal use, on-farm improvements, or wastewater infrastructure.
as consideration for recognition of the Navajo Nation’s Water Rights and other benefits described in the Agreement and this Act
Subject to the reservation of rights and retention of claims under subsection (d), the Navajo Nation, on behalf of the Nation (including in its capacity as an Allottee) and members of the Nation (other than members in their capacity as Allottees) shall execute a waiver and release of all claims against the United States (including any agency or employee of the United States) first arising before the Enforceability Date relating to— (1) water rights within the Rio San José Stream System that the United States, acting as trustee for the Navajo Nation, asserted or could have asserted in any proceeding, including the Adjudication, except to the extent that such rights are recognized as part of the Navajo Nation’s Water Rights under this Act;
Nothing in this Act or the Agreement shall affect the rights or claims of Allottees, or the United States, acting in its capacity as trustee for or on behalf of Allottees, for water rights or damages relating to land allotted by the United States to Allottees.
shall be made available to the Nation by the Secretary beginning on the Enforceability Date, subject to the requirements of this section, except for funds to be made available to the Nation pursuant to paragraph (2).
(3) all of the amounts appropriated under section 7(a) have been appropriated and deposited in the designated accounts of the Navajo Trust Fund;
(5) the Decree Court has approved the Agreement and has entered the Navajo Partial Final Judgment and Decree; and (6) the waivers and releases under section 9 have been executed by the Navajo Nation and the Secretary.
The bill’s stated purpose is to settle the Navajo Nation’s and its federal trustee’s water-rights claims in the Rio San José court proceeding. It would approve the June 11, 2024 addendum to the May 13, 2022 local settlement and its attachments, subject to consistency with the bill. The Interior Secretary would have to sign the agreement and could approve later consistent modifications when separate congressional approval is not required.
to achieve a fair, equitable, and final settlement of all claims to water rights in the general stream adjudication of the Rio San José Stream System
(A) the Navajo Nation; and (B) the United States, acting as trustee for the Navajo Nation;
the addendum dated June 11, 2024, to, and as provided in Article 17 of, the document entitled Rio San José Stream System Water Rights Local Settlement Agreement Among the Pueblo of Acoma, the Pueblo of Laguna, the Navajo Nation, the State of New Mexico, the City of Grants, the Village of Milan, the Association of Community Ditches of the Rio San José and Nine Individual Acequias and Community Ditches and dated May 13, 2022, and the attachments thereto and to the addendum;
Except as modified by this Act, and to the extent that the Agreement does not conflict with this Act, the Agreement is authorized, ratified, and confirmed.
To the extent that the Agreement does not conflict with this Act, the Secretary shall execute the Agreement, including all attachments to, or parts of, the Agreement requiring the signature of the Secretary.
Nothing in this Act prohibits the Secretary, after execution of the Agreement, from approving any modification to the Agreement, including an attachment to the Agreement, that is consistent with this Act, to the extent that the modification does not otherwise require congressional approval under section 2116 of the Revised Statutes (25 U.S.C. 177) or any other applicable provision of Federal law.
Implementation would remain subject to federal environmental laws. The Nation would prepare necessary environmental documents, and the Interior Secretary would independently evaluate them and remain responsible for their accuracy, scope, and contents. Signing the agreement alone would not count as a major federal action under the National Environmental Policy Act. Compliance costs would generally come from the trust fund or other Nation funds, while federal review and inherently federal work would remain the Secretary’s responsibility.
In implementing the Agreement and this Act, the Secretary shall comply with— (A) the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); (B) the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), including the implementing regulations of that Act; and (C) all other applicable Federal environmental laws and regulations.
In implementing the Agreement and this Act, the Navajo Nation shall prepare any necessary environmental documents
The Secretary shall— (i) independently evaluate the documentation required under subparagraph (A); and (ii) be responsible for the accuracy, scope, and contents of that documentation.
The execution of the Agreement by the Secretary under this section shall not constitute a major Federal action under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
Any costs associated with the performance of the compliance activities under this subsection shall be paid from funds deposited in the Navajo Trust Fund or other sources of funding from the Navajo Nation, subject to the condition that any costs associated with the performance of Federal approval or other review of such compliance work or costs associated with inherently Federal functions shall remain the responsibility of the Secretary.
The United States would hold the Nation’s covered water rights in trust for the Nation. Those rights could not be lost through non-use, forfeiture, abandonment, or other operation of law. State-law water rights acquired by the Nation or its federal trustee after the cutoff for inclusion in the settlement decree would also be protected against forfeiture, abandonment, and permanent transfer away from the Nation.
The Navajo Nation’s Water Rights shall be held in trust by the United States on behalf of the Nation in accordance with the Agreement and this Act.
The Navajo Nation’s Water Rights shall not be subject to loss through non-use, forfeiture, abandonment, or other operation of law.
State-law based water rights acquired by the Navajo Nation, or by the United States on behalf of the Nation, after the date for inclusion in the Navajo Partial Final Judgment and Decree, shall not be subject to forfeiture, abandonment, or permanent alienation from the time they are acquired.
The Nation could allocate, distribute, and lease its covered water rights for use on Navajo lands under the agreement, bill, and applicable federal law. Off-land uses would also require the Interior Secretary’s approval, and off-land leases could last no more than 99 years including renewals. An authorization provided by the bill for an allocation, distribution, lease, or other covered arrangement would satisfy federal requirements for authorization of that action; the referenced laws are not supplied to establish any further effect. The Nation could not permanently transfer away any covered rights. Its agreed restraint from exercising certain rights would not cause their loss.
The Navajo Nation shall have the authority to allocate, distribute, and lease the Navajo Nation’s Water Rights for use on Navajo Lands in accordance with the Agreement, this Act, and applicable Federal law
The Navajo Nation may allocate, distribute, and lease the Navajo Nation’s Water Rights for use off Navajo Lands in accordance with the Agreement, this Act, and applicable Federal law, subject to the approval of the Secretary.
The maximum term of any lease, including all renewals, under this paragraph shall not exceed 99 years.
An authorization provided by this Act for the allocation, distribution, leasing, or other arrangement entered into pursuant to this Act shall be considered to satisfy any requirement for authorization of the action required by Federal law.
The Navajo Nation shall not permanently alienate any portion of the Navajo Nation’s Water Rights.
Forbearance by the Navajo Nation in accordance with Article 17.13.4 of the Agreement— (A) shall be considered non-use for purposes of paragraph (3); and (B) shall not result in the forfeiture, abandonment, relinquishment, or other loss of any portion of the Navajo Nation’s Water Rights.
Allotments are specified trust-land parcels in the Rio Puerco Basin or Rio San José Stream System held for individual Indians or Tribes with undivided fractional interests. Their water rights would be excluded from the Nation’s settlement rights, although the Nation could allow its water to be used on an allotment. In general stream adjudications, the Nation could not oppose quantification of reasonable household, livestock, and irrigation water uses on allotments. It would have to administer water use under applicable federal law, recognizing existing uses, reasonable domestic, stock, and irrigation uses, and decreed allottee rights.
The term Allotment means a parcel of land that is— (A) located within— (i) the Rio Puerco Basin; or (ii) the Rio San José Stream System; and (B) held in trust by the United States for the benefit of— (i) 1 or more individual Indians; or (ii) an Indian Tribe holding an undivided fractional beneficial interest.
the Navajo Nation’s Water Rights shall not include any water rights for an Allotment, subject to the condition that the Navajo Nation may allow use of the Navajo Nation’s Water Rights on an Allotment subject to the terms and conditions of the Agreement and this Act.
The Nation shall not object in any general stream adjudication, including the Adjudication, to the quantification of reasonable domestic, stock, and irrigation water uses on an Allotment, and shall administer any water use in accordance with applicable Federal law, including recognition of— (1) any water use existing on an Allotment as of the date of enactment of this Act; (2) reasonable domestic, stock, and irrigation water uses on an Allotment; and (3) any water right decreed to the United States in trust for an Allottee in a general stream adjudication, including the Adjudication, for use on an Allotment.
Section 13 would preserve allotment holders’ water and related damage claims and require separate adjudication of allotment water rights, excluding them from the Nation’s settlement decree. The Nation’s water-use restrictions would generally not apply to those separate rights. However, those restrictions would apply if an allotment governed by the specified Act of February 8, 1887 became Navajo Nation land. Allotment holders or their federal trustee could pursue water-rights claims in either covered basin. Section 9(b) separately includes the Nation in its capacity as an allottee in a waiver against the United States; its interaction with section 13’s protection is unresolved in the supplied materials.
Nothing in this Act or the Agreement shall affect the rights or claims of Allottees, or the United States, acting in its capacity as trustee for or on behalf of Allottees, for water rights or damages relating to land allotted by the United States to Allottees.
(A) water rights for Allotments shall be separate from the Navajo Nation’s Water Rights; and (B) no water rights for Allotments shall be included in the Navajo Partial Final Judgment and Decree.
The Allotment water rights adjudicated separately pursuant to paragraph (1) shall not be subject to the restrictions or conditions that apply to the use of the Navajo Nation’s Water Rights, subject to the condition that if an Allotment governed by the Act of February 8, 1887 (commonly known as the Indian General Allotment Act) (24 Stat. 388, chapter 119) becomes Navajo Nation Lands, the water rights associated with that Allotment shall be subject to the restrictions and conditions on the Navajo Nation’s Water Rights set forth in this Act and the Agreement.
Allottees, or the United States, acting in its capacity as trustee for Allottees, may make water rights claims, and those claims may be adjudicated in the Rio San José Stream System or the Rio Puerco Basin.
Subject to the reservation of rights and retention of claims under subsection (d), the Navajo Nation, on behalf of the Nation (including in its capacity as an Allottee) and members of the Nation (other than members in their capacity as Allottees) shall execute a waiver and release of all claims against the United States (including any agency or employee of the United States) first arising before the Enforceability Date
The Interior Secretary would establish and manage a settlement trust fund with separate settlement and operations-and-maintenance accounts. Deposited money and investment earnings would remain available until spent, withdrawn, or returned to the Treasury. Except for limited early access, the Nation could receive funds beginning on the settlement’s enforceability date.
The Secretary shall establish a trust fund, to be known as the Navajo Nation Rio San José Water Rights Settlement Trust Fund, to be managed, invested, and distributed by the Secretary and to remain available until expended, withdrawn, or reverted to the general fund of the Treasury
The Secretary shall establish in the Navajo Trust Fund the following accounts: (1) The Navajo Nation Water Rights Settlement Account. (2) The Navajo Nation Operations and Maintenance Account.
Amounts appropriated to, and deposited in, the Navajo Trust Fund, including any investment earnings, including interest, earned on those amounts, shall be made available to the Nation by the Secretary beginning on the Enforceability Date, subject to the requirements of this section, except for funds to be made available to the Nation pursuant to paragraph (2).
The settlement account could fund water purchases, water and wastewater infrastructure, on-farm improvements, water-rights administration, watershed protection, agriculture, water-related community welfare and economic development, agreement implementation, and environmental compliance. These would be permitted uses, not a requirement to undertake every listed activity.
The Navajo Nation Water Rights Settlement Account may only be used for the following purposes: (A) Acquiring water rights or water supply. (B) Planning, permitting, designing, engineering, constructing, reconstructing, replacing, rehabilitating, operating, or repairing water production, treatment, or delivery infrastructure, including for domestic and municipal use, on-farm improvements, or wastewater infrastructure. (C) Navajo Nation’s Water Rights management and administration. (D) Watershed protection and enhancement, support of agriculture, water-related Navajo community welfare and economic development, and costs relating to implementation of the Agreement. (E) Environmental compliance in the development and construction of infrastructure under this Act.
The operations-and-maintenance account could pay only for operating, maintaining, and replacing infrastructure serving Navajo household, commercial, municipal, and industrial water uses, from any water source. The Nation would own, control, and operate projects built with trust-fund money and would be responsible for their operating, maintenance, and replacement costs.
The Navajo Nation Water Infrastructure Operations and Maintenance Account may only be used to pay costs for operation, maintenance, and replacement of water infrastructure to serve Navajo domestic, commercial, municipal, and industrial water uses from any water source.
Title to, control over, and operation of any project constructed using funds from the Navajo Trust Fund shall remain in the Navajo Nation.
All operation, maintenance, and replacement costs of any project constructed using funds from the Navajo Trust Fund shall be the responsibility of the Nation.
Up to $15 million from the settlement account, including earnings, would be available upon deposit without waiting for the general enforceability date. Early uses would be limited to specified planning, design, compliance, permits and rights-of-way for water infrastructure, and groundwater wells and associated infrastructure on Navajo lands to meet immediate household, commercial, municipal, and industrial needs.
up to $15,000,000 of the amounts deposited in the Navajo Nation Water Rights Settlement Account, including any investment earnings, including interest, earned on those amounts, shall be available to the Nation on the date on which the amounts are deposited in the Navajo Nation Water Rights Settlement Account for the following uses: (A) Feasibility studies, planning, engineering, design, and related environmental, cultural, and historical compliance, and obtaining rights-of-way or permits for water supply infrastructure to serve Navajo Nation needs consistent with subsection (h)(1)(B). (B) Installing, on Navajo Lands, groundwater wells and associated infrastructure to meet immediate domestic, commercial, municipal and industrial water needs, and associated environmental, cultural, and historical compliance.
The Nation could withdraw funds through an approved Tribal management plan or an approved expenditure plan. Withdrawn funds would have to serve the bill’s purposes, and the Interior Secretary could use court or administrative action to enforce the plans. An expenditure plan would require approval if the Secretary determined that it was reasonable, consistent with the bill, and would be used for its purposes. The section would give no right to judicial review of plan-approval decisions except under the cited Administrative Procedure Act provisions; those provisions are not supplied to establish the detailed review requirements.
The Navajo Nation may withdraw any portion of the amounts in the Navajo Trust Fund on approval by the Secretary of a Tribal management plan submitted by the Nation in accordance with the American Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 4001 et seq.).
the Tribal management plan under this paragraph shall require that the Nation shall spend all amounts withdrawn from the Navajo Trust Fund, and any investment earnings, including interest, earned on those amounts, through the investments under the Tribal management plan, in accordance with this Act.
The Secretary may carry out such judicial and administrative actions as the Secretary determines to be necessary to enforce the Tribal management plan under this paragraph
The Navajo Nation may submit to the Secretary a request to withdraw funds from the Navajo Trust Fund pursuant to an approved expenditure plan.
The Secretary shall approve an expenditure plan submitted under subparagraph (A) if the Secretary determines that the plan— (i) is reasonable; and (ii) is consistent with, and will be used for, the purposes of this Act.
The Secretary may carry out such judicial and administrative actions as the Secretary determines to be necessary to enforce an expenditure plan to ensure that amounts disbursed under this paragraph are used in accordance with this Act.
Nothing in this section gives the Navajo Nation the right to judicial review of a determination of the Secretary relating to whether to approve a Tribal management plan under paragraph (1) of subsection (f) or an expenditure plan under paragraph (2) of that subsection except under subchapter II of chapter 5, and chapter 7, of title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the Administrative Procedure Act).
The Nation would have to report annually on accomplishments and spending from withdrawals. Trust-fund money could not be distributed to members on a per-person basis. The Interior and Treasury Secretaries would not be liable for the Nation’s spending or investment of withdrawn funds.
The Navajo Nation shall annually submit to the Secretary an expenditure report describing accomplishments and amounts spent from use of withdrawals under a Tribal management plan or an expenditure plan under paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (f), as applicable.
No portion of the Navajo Trust Fund shall be distributed on a per capita basis to any member of Navajo Nation.
The Secretary and the Secretary of the Treasury shall not be liable for the expenditure or investment of any amounts withdrawn from the Navajo Trust Fund by the Nation under paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (f).
The bill would make mandatory federal appropriations: $200,271,000 for the settlement account and $23 million for operations and maintenance. The combined base amount would be $223,271,000, before required cost adjustments.
Mandatory appropriations Out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer to the Secretary the following amounts for deposit in the following accounts:
For deposit in the Navajo Nation Water Rights Settlement Account established under section 6(b)(1), $200,271,000, to remain available until expended, withdrawn, or reverted to the general fund of the Treasury.
For deposit in the Navajo Nation Operations and Maintenance Account established under section 6(b)(2), $23,000,000, to remain available until expended, withdrawn, or reverted to the general fund of the Treasury.
The amounts appropriated under subsection (a) shall be increased or decreased, as appropriate
Federal funding would be adjusted upward or downward for ordinary construction-cost changes using the Bureau of Reclamation’s specified index. The Interior Secretary would also adjust for unforeseen market volatility not captured by cost indices. Each funding increment would be adjusted from October 1, 2021 through its deposit date, with the adjustment process repeated for subsequent appropriations until the adjusted amount was appropriated.
The amounts appropriated under subsection (a) shall be increased or decreased, as appropriate, by such amounts as may be justified by reason of ordinary fluctuations in costs, as indicated by the Bureau of Reclamation Construction Cost Index–Composite Trend.
The amounts appropriated under subsection (a) shall be adjusted to address construction cost changes necessary to account for unforeseen market volatility that may not otherwise be captured by construction cost indices, as determined by the Secretary, including repricing applicable to the types of construction and current industry standards involved.
The adjustment process under this subsection shall be repeated for each subsequent amount appropriated until the applicable amount, as adjusted, has been appropriated.
The period of indexing and adjustment under this subsection for any increment of funding shall start on October 1, 2021, and end on the date on which funds are deposited in the Navajo Trust Fund.
New Mexico would have to contribute $3 million, adjusted for inflation under the agreement, to the Bluewater Toltec Irrigation District and Acequia Madre del Ojo del Gallo for agreement-defined purposes. Additional state funding would be required if applicable under the cited agreement provision.
Pursuant to the Agreement, the State shall contribute— (1) $3,000,000, as adjusted for inflation pursuant to the Agreement, to the Bluewater Toltec Irrigation District and Acequia Madre del Ojo del Gallo for purposes described in the Agreement; and (2) if applicable, additional funding subject to the provisions of Article 17.12.4 of the Agreement.
The settlement’s enforceability date would be when the Interior Secretary publishes findings that all listed conditions are met. These include a conforming agreement signed by all parties; all required federal deposits; the State’s $3 million funding or funding agreement; state legislation allowing Navajo Nation water-right leases up to 99 years including renewals; court approval and entry of the settlement decree; and signed waivers. The defined decree must be beyond further appeal.
The Enforceability Date shall be the date on which the Secretary publishes in the Federal Register a statement of findings that— (1) to the extent that the Agreement conflicts with this Act, the Agreement has been amended to conform with this Act; (2) the Agreement, as amended, has been executed by all parties to the Agreement, including the United States; (3) all of the amounts appropriated under section 7(a) have been appropriated and deposited in the designated accounts of the Navajo Trust Fund;
(4) the State has— (A) provided $3,000,000 of funding under section 7(c)(1) into the appropriate funding accounts or entered into a funding agreement with the intended beneficiaries for that funding; and (B) enacted legislation to amend State law to provide that a Navajo Nation Water Right may be leased for a term not to exceed 99 years, including renewals; (5) the Decree Court has approved the Agreement and has entered the Navajo Partial Final Judgment and Decree; and (6) the waivers and releases under section 9 have been executed by the Navajo Nation and the Secretary.
The term Navajo Partial Final Judgment and Decree means a final or interlocutory partial final judgment and decree entered by the Decree Court with respect to the Navajo Nation’s Water Rights
(B) from which no further appeal may be taken.
Subject to retained claims, the Nation and the United States as its trustee would waive Rio San José water-rights claims asserted or assertable by the enforceability date, except rights recognized in the settlement. They would also release specified water-rights damage claims against agreement parties, including members and parciantes of signatory acequias, that accrued through that date. These waivers would exclude members acting as allotment holders and take effect on the enforceability date.
Subject to the reservation of rights and retention of claims under subsection (d)
the Navajo Nation, on behalf of the Nation and members of the Nation (other than members in their capacity as Allottees), and the United States, acting as trustee for the Nation and members of the Nation (other than members in their capacity as Allottees), shall execute a waiver and release of all claims for
water rights within the Rio San José Stream System that the Navajo Nation or the United States acting as trustee for the Nation, asserted or could have asserted in any proceeding, including the Adjudication, on or before the Enforceability Date, except to the extent that such rights are recognized in the Agreement and this Act;
damages, losses, or injuries to water rights or claims of interference with, diversion of, or taking of water rights (including claims for injury to land resulting from such damages, losses, injuries, interference with, diversion, or taking of water rights) in waters in the Rio San José Stream System against any party to the Agreement, including the members and parciantes of Signatory Acequias, that accrued at any time up to and including the Enforceability Date.
The waivers and releases described in subsections (a) and (b) shall take effect on the Enforceability Date.
Subject to retained claims, the Nation would also waive specified claims against the United States first arising before enforceability. These cover Rio San José water rights, benefits lost through non-Navajo water use, water-related injuries, failures to provide or maintain specified water systems and dam improvements, irrigation-project injuries, water-rights litigation, and settlement negotiations and adoption. This waiver expressly includes the Nation in its own capacity as an allotment holder but excludes members acting in that capacity. Settlement benefits would fully replace and satisfy the Nation’s claims waived under this provision.
Subject to the reservation of rights and retention of claims under subsection (d), the Navajo Nation, on behalf of the Nation (including in its capacity as an Allottee) and members of the Nation (other than members in their capacity as Allottees) shall execute a waiver and release of all claims against the United States (including any agency or employee of the United States) first arising before the Enforceability Date
(1) water rights within the Rio San José Stream System that the United States, acting as trustee for the Navajo Nation, asserted or could have asserted in any proceeding, including the Adjudication, except to the extent that such rights are recognized as part of the Navajo Nation’s Water Rights under this Act; (2) foregone benefits from non-Navajo use of water, on and off Navajo Lands (including water from all sources and for all uses) within the Rio San José Stream System;
(3) damage, loss, or injury to water, water rights, land, or natural resources due to loss of water or water rights (including damages, losses, or injuries to hunting, fishing, gathering, or cultural rights due to loss of water or water rights, claims relating to interference with, diversion of, or taking of water, or claims relating to a failure to protect, acquire, replace, or develop water, water rights, or water infrastructure) within the Rio San José Stream System;
(4) a failure to provide for operation, maintenance, or deferred maintenance for any irrigation system or irrigation project within the Rio San José Stream System; (5) a failure to establish or provide a municipal, rural, or industrial water delivery system on Navajo Lands within the Rio San José Stream System; (6) damage, loss, or injury to water, water rights, land, or natural resources due to construction, operation, and management of irrigation projects on Navajo Lands (including damages, losses, or injuries to fish habitat, wildlife, and wildlife habitat) within the Rio San José Stream System; (7) a failure to provide a dam safety improvement to a dam on Navajo Lands within the Rio San José Stream System; (8) the litigation of claims relating to any water right of the Nation within the Rio San José Stream System; and (9) the negotiation, execution, or adoption of the Agreement (including attachments) and this Act.
The benefits provided under this Act shall be in complete replacement of, complete substitution for, and full satisfaction of any claim of the Navajo Nation against the United States that are waived and released by the Nation pursuant to section 9(b).
The Nation and its federal trustee would retain claims to enforce recognized rights and qualifying claims arising after enforceability, water-quality and environmental claims, rights acquired after enactment, and land or resource injuries not caused by loss of water or water rights. Claims in other basins would remain, subject to the agreement’s treatment of Rio Puerco water-rights claims. Rights and claims not specifically waived would also remain.
the Navajo Nation and the United States, acting as trustee for the Nation, shall retain all claims relating to— (1) the enforcement of, or claims accruing after the Enforceability Date relating to, water rights recognized under the Agreement, this Act, or the Navajo Partial Final Judgment and Decree entered in the Adjudication; (2) activities affecting the quality of water and the environment
(3) the right to use and protect water rights acquired after the date of enactment of this Act; (4) damage, loss, or injury to land or natural resources that is not due to loss of water or water rights, including hunting, fishing, gathering, or cultural rights; (5) all claims for water rights, and claims for injury to water rights, in basins other than the Rio San José Stream System, subject to the Agreement with respect to the claims of the Navajo Nation for water rights in the Rio Puerco Basin; and (6) all rights, remedies, privileges, immunities, powers, and claims not specifically waived and released pursuant to this Act or the Agreement.
Except for the specified permit-review provision, the bill would preserve governmental sovereignty and jurisdiction. It would preserve federal authority to carry out lawful activities and act as trustee, and would not give state courts new authority to interpret federal health, safety, or environmental law, determine duties under those laws, or review federal agency actions. Members’ individual claims that do not derive from the Nation’s rights would not be waived.
Nothing in the Agreement or this Act— (1) reduces or extends the sovereignty (including civil and criminal jurisdiction) of any government entity, except as provided in section 11; (2) affects the ability of the United States, as a sovereign, to carry out any activity authorized by law
(3) affects the ability of the United States to act as trustee for the Navajo Nation (consistent with this Act), any other Indian Tribe, or an Allottee of any other Indian Tribe;
(4) confers jurisdiction on any State court— (A) to interpret Federal law relating to health, safety, or the environment; (B) to determine the duties of the United States or any other party under Federal law regarding health, safety, or the environment; or (C) to conduct judicial review of any Federal agency action; or (5) waives any claim of a member of the Navajo Nation in an individual capacity that does not derive from a right of the Navajo Nation.
The United States would receive a $20 million offset—a credit reducing a payment—against a judgment concerning Rio Puerco water-rights claims brought by the Nation or a user of its water rights, or against a federal contribution to a future settlement of the Nation’s Rio Puerco water rights.
The United States shall be entitled to offset $20,000,000 against— (1) any judgment against the United States for claims relating to water rights in the Rio Puerco Basin, including breach of trust and damage claims relating to water rights in the Rio Puerco Basin, in a case brought by the Nation or any user of the Navajo Nation’s Water Rights; or (2) a Federal contribution to any future settlement of water rights of the Navajo Nation in the Rio Puerco Basin.
For claims described in section 9, applicable limitation periods and time-based equitable defenses would be paused from enactment until enforceability. The bill would not revive already expired claims or toll limitation periods or equitable defenses that had already expired, and would preserve tolling available under other law.
Each applicable period of limitation and time-based equitable defense relating to a claim described in this section shall be tolled for the period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act and ending on the Enforceability Date.
Nothing in this subsection revives any claim or tolls any period of limitation or time-based equitable defense that expired before the date of enactment of this Act.
Nothing in this section precludes the tolling of any period of limitation or any time-based equitable defense under any other applicable law.
The proposed Act would expire if the Interior Secretary did not publish the required enforceability findings by July 1, 2030. The Nation and Secretary could agree to a later deadline after providing reasonable notice to New Mexico.
This Act shall expire in any case in which the Secretary fails to publish a statement of findings under section 8 by not later than— (A) July 1, 2030; or (B) such alternative later date as is agreed to by the Navajo Nation and the Secretary, after providing reasonable notice to the State.
Expiration would end the waivers and agreement approval and void actions carried out by the Interior Secretary and contracts or agreements entered into pursuant to the Act. Unspent federal funds, interest, and federally financed water rights, water-use contracts, and property would have to return to the federal government unless the Nation and United States agreed otherwise and Congress approved. Subject to an exception for funds used to acquire or construct returned property, the United States would be entitled to offset specified federal funding and interest against covered claims or a future Navajo water-rights settlement.
If this Act expires under paragraph (1)— (A) the waivers and releases under subsections (a) and (b) shall— (i) expire; and (ii) have no further force or effect; (B) the authorization, ratification, confirmation, and execution of the Agreement under section 4 shall no longer be effective; (C) any action carried out by the Secretary, and any contract or agreement entered into, pursuant to this Act shall be void;
(D) any unexpended Federal funds appropriated or made available to carry out the activities authorized by this Act, together with any interest earned on those funds, and any water rights or contracts to use water and title to other property acquired or constructed with Federal funds appropriated or made available to carry out the activities authorized by this Act, shall be returned to the Federal Government, unless otherwise agreed to by Navajo Nation and the United States and approved by Congress;
(E) except for Federal funds used to acquire or construct property that is returned to the Federal Government under subparagraph (D), the United States shall be entitled to offset any Federal funds made available to carry out this Act that were expended or withdrawn, or any funds made available to carry out this Act from other Federal authorized sources, together with any interest accrued on those funds, against any claims against the United States— (i) relating to water rights in the State asserted by— (I) the Nation or any user of the Navajo Nation’s Water Rights; or (II) any other matter covered by subsection (b); or (ii) in any future settlement of water rights of the Navajo Nation.
Beginning on the enforceability date, the United States would consent, alongside the Nation’s agreement-based consent, to limited New Mexico state-court review of Navajo water-use permit decisions. A party to the specified Tribal administrative proceeding could bring the case in the Thirteenth Judicial District Court, with appeals to the New Mexico Court of Appeals and Supreme Court.
On the Enforceability Date, the consent of the United States is hereby given, with the consent of the Navajo Nation under Article 17.14.4 of the Agreement, to jurisdiction in the District Court for the Thirteenth Judicial District of the State of New Mexico, and in the New Mexico Court of Appeals and the New Mexico Supreme Court on appeal therefrom in the same manner as provided under New Mexico law, over an action filed in such District Court by any party to a Navajo Nation Water Use Permit administrative proceeding under Article 17.10.4 of the Agreement for the limited and sole purpose of judicial review of a Navajo Nation Water Use Permit decision under Article 17.10.5 of the Agreement.
Permit review would be limited to the record developed in the Nation’s administrative process. The listed questions concern substantial evidence, arbitrary or unlawful decision-making, inconsistency with the agreement or decree, fraud, and action outside the Nation’s authority. The text mixes positive and negative formulations of these questions.
The consent of the United States for review of a Navajo Nation Water Use Permit is limited to judicial review, based on the record developed through the administrative process of the Navajo Nation, under a standard of judicial review limited to determining whether the Navajo Nation decision on the application for the Navajo Nation Water Use Permit— (1) is supported by substantial evidence; (2) is not arbitrary, capricious, or contrary to law; (3) is not in accordance with the Agreement or the Navajo Partial Final Judgment and Decree; or (4) shows that the Navajo Nation acted fraudulently or outside the scope of its authority.
State courts would have to recognize Navajo water-law provisions meeting the agreement’s requirements. Questions about Navajo law outside express water-code or water-law provisions would be referred to the Navajo Nation court for interpretation. Questions about standards in Article 17.10.6 of the agreement would not be referred, and the settlement court would retain authority to interpret and enforce the agreement. The agreement is not supplied to establish those standards’ contents.
Navajo Nation Water Code or Navajo Water Law provisions that meet the requirements of Article 17.10 of the Agreement shall be given full faith and credit in any proceeding described in this section.
To the extent that a State court conducting judicial review under this section must interpret provisions of Navajo Nation law that are not express provisions of the Navajo Nation Water Code or Navajo Nation water law, the State court shall certify the question of interpretation to the Navajo Nation court.
Any issues of interpretation of standards in Article 17.10.6 of the Agreement are not subject to certification.
Nothing in this section limits the jurisdiction of the Decree Court to interpret and enforce the Agreement.
The bill states that it would not waive the United States’ sovereign immunity or quantify or diminish other Tribes’ land and water rights or claims. Existing law on pre-enforcement review of federal environmental enforcement actions would remain unchanged. If the agreement conflicted with the Act, the Act would control.
Nothing in this Act waives the sovereign immunity of the United States.
Nothing in this Act quantifies or diminishes any land or water right, or any claim or entitlement to land or water, of an Indian Tribe, band, Pueblo, or community other than the Navajo Nation.
Nothing in this Act affects any provision of law (including regulations) in effect on the day before the date of enactment of this Act with respect to pre-enforcement review of any Federal environmental enforcement action.
In the event of a conflict between the Agreement and this Act, this Act shall control.
The Nation could expand the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project’s service area to deliver water to Navajo communities in New Mexico’s Rio San José Basin. If the Bureau of Reclamation still owned the facilities when they supplied that water, the Nation would need the Commissioner’s written approval of the connection and related facilities’ final design and would have to coordinate construction with the Commissioner.
the term Project means the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project
The Nation may expand the service area for the Project in order to deliver water supply from the Project to communities of the Nation within the Rio San José Basin in the State.
If water will be supplied from facilities of the Project to the Rio San José Basin at a time when the Bureau of Reclamation still holds title to those facilities, the Navajo Nation shall— (1) obtain approval, in writing, from the Commissioner of Reclamation for the final design of the connection and related facilities needed to connect the extension into the Rio San José area from those facilities; and (2) coordinate construction of the connection and related facilities with the Commissioner of Reclamation.
The term State means the State of New Mexico and all officers, agents, departments, and political subdivisions of the State of New Mexico.
The United States would not be liable for failing to carry out an obligation or activity authorized by the bill or agreement if Congress did not expressly provide adequate appropriations.
The United States shall not be liable for any failure to carry out any obligation or activity authorized by this Act, including any obligation or activity under the Agreement, if adequate appropriations are not provided expressly by Congress to carry out the purposes of this Act.
The supplied actions snapshot, updated December 9, 2025, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Natural Resources on February 13, 2025. It does not establish subsequent legislative status.
Source snapshot updated 2025-12-09T23:14:09Z. 2025-02-13: Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources. 2025-02-13: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-13. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
After reviewing the complete supplied introduced text, no provision meeting this review’s rider definition was identified. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials, or establish any amendment’s attachment history.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
Findings to examine
The cited provisions direct spending to particular recipients and are classified here as directed allocations. The supplied text does not establish formal congressional earmark status.
The proposal would direct a base $200,271,000 to the Navajo Nation Water Rights Settlement Account and $23 million to its Operations and Maintenance Account. These provisions specify settlement allocations for a named beneficiary without providing a competitive grant process or distribution formula.
Out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer to the Secretary the following amounts for deposit in the following accounts:
For deposit in the Navajo Nation Water Rights Settlement Account established under section 6(b)(1), $200,271,000, to remain available until expended, withdrawn, or reverted to the general fund of the Treasury.
For deposit in the Navajo Nation Operations and Maintenance Account established under section 6(b)(2), $23,000,000, to remain available until expended, withdrawn, or reverted to the general fund of the Treasury.
Amounts appropriated to, and deposited in, the Navajo Trust Fund, including any investment earnings, including interest, earned on those amounts, shall be made available to the Nation by the Secretary beginning on the Enforceability Date, subject to the requirements of this section, except for funds to be made available to the Nation pursuant to paragraph (2).
The proposal would also direct New Mexico’s $3 million contribution, adjusted for inflation under the agreement, to two named irrigation organizations: Bluewater Toltec Irrigation District and Acequia Madre del Ojo del Gallo. This is a specified state-funded allocation, not a federal appropriation; its purposes are assigned to the unsupplied agreement.
Pursuant to the Agreement, the State shall contribute— (1) $3,000,000, as adjusted for inflation pursuant to the Agreement, to the Bluewater Toltec Irrigation District and Acequia Madre del Ojo del Gallo for purposes described in the Agreement;
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
Findings to examine
The cited provisions establish narrow legal protections or exceptions connected to the settlement’s main policy. Classification identifies treatment warranting scrutiny and does not establish improper purpose.
The Nation’s covered water rights would receive an express protection against loss through non-use, forfeiture, abandonment, or other operation of law. The bill would extend specified protections to later-acquired state-law water rights as well. This is a substantive legal protection for the named Nation within the settlement; the supplied text does not establish how it compares with every otherwise applicable rule.
The Navajo Nation’s Water Rights shall not be subject to loss through non-use, forfeiture, abandonment, or other operation of law.
State-law based water rights acquired by the Navajo Nation, or by the United States on behalf of the Nation, after the date for inclusion in the Navajo Partial Final Judgment and Decree, shall not be subject to forfeiture, abandonment, or permanent alienation from the time they are acquired.
For the Navajo Nation’s settlement, the Secretary’s signing of the agreement would expressly be excluded from classification as a major federal action under the National Environmental Policy Act. This gives execution of this particular settlement a narrow statutory exception. Implementation would remain subject to applicable federal environmental laws.
The execution of the Agreement by the Secretary under this section shall not constitute a major Federal action under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
In implementing the Agreement and this Act, the Secretary shall comply with— (A) the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); (B) the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), including the implementing regulations of that Act; and (C) all other applicable Federal environmental laws and regulations.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Dec 9, 2025. How PlainBill uses AI