    [Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 36 (Monday, February 24, 2025)]
    [Senate]
    [Pages S1313-S1314]
    From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

          By Mr. PADILLA (for himself and Mr. Schiff):
      S. 689. A bill to approve the settlement of the water rights claims
    of the Tule River Tribe, and for other purposes; to the Committee on
    Indian Affairs.
      Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise to reintroduce the Tule River
    Tribe Reserved Water Rights Settlement Act of 2025. This legislation
    would finalize this multidecade effort by the Tule River Tribe to
    provide clean drinking water to their people and uphold the Federal
    Government's trust and treaty responsibilities.
      The Tule River people are descendants of the Yokuts Indians, a large
    group of Native Americans who occupied what is now known as the San
    Joaquin Valley in California for thousands of years prior to contact
    with settlers.
      In 1856, the Federal Government established their reservation in
    Tulare County, with the specific goal of providing the Tribe with
    arable farmland and the water resources necessary to establish self-
    sufficiency. However, their land was fraudulently stolen from them, and
    in 1873, President Grant issued an Executive order to create a new
    reservation for the Tribe. This land--which is the Tribe's current
    reservation--is comprised of mostly mountainous lands that do not
    provide sufficient irrigation opportunities or water storage
    facilities. Today, the Tule River Tribe struggles to provide clean
    drinking water to their people, and Tule Tribal citizens suffer from a
    low standard of living as a result.
      Since 1971, the Tribe has worked to establish its federally reserved
    water rights to create the viable homeland they were promised and to
    ensure that their citizens have enough water to meet their current and
    future water needs. For decades, the Tribe has worked with the
    Departments of the Interior and Justice as well as downstream water
    users to advance a settlement agreement, thereby avoiding costly
    litigation for both the Tribe and the U.S. Government.
      I am proud to introduce this legislation to quantify the Tribe's
    water right of 5,828 acre-feet per year of surface water and fund $568
    million towards the construction of a water storage project. My
    legislation would also codify what is known as the 2007 Agreement with
    downstream water users, who support this legislation. Finally, the
    legislation would transfer approximately 9,000 acres of Federal land
    currently in the Sequoia National Monument to allow the Tribe to
    protect the watershed headwaters and 800 acres of grazing land to the
    north and south of the reservation boundary.
      It is long past time for the Federal Government to live up to its
    trust and treaty responsibilities to the Tule River Tribe. We must
    codify this water settlement and settle the Tule River Tribe's claims
    against the United States. Access to clean drinking water now and in
    the future is essential to the continued strength of Tribal nations and
    to ensuring the sustainability and viability of future generations.
      Water is a sacred and necessary resource for Tribal nations and for
    all people. As California and the West continue to experience a
    historic megadrought, enactment of our legislation would provide water
    security to Tule River citizens now and into the future.
      I thank Senator Schiff for introducing this legislation with me in
    the Senate. I would also like to thank the Tule River Tribe for their
    decades of hard work to finalize this settlement and the downstream
    water users, including the Tule River Association and the South Tule
    Independent Ditch Company, for working with the Tribe to settle this
    issue and avoid litigation.
      I look forward to working with my colleagues to enact the Tule River
    Tribe Reserved Water Rights Settlement Act of 2025 as quickly as
    possible.

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