[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 74 (Tuesday, April 28, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Page S2083]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. PADILLA (for himself and Mr. Schiff):
  S. 4417. A bill to amend the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians 
Water Rights Settlement Act to make technical corrections, and for 
other purposes; to the Committee on Indian Affairs.
  Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a bill to amend 
the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians Water Rights Settlement 
Act to make technical corrections to incorporate additional land taken 
into trust and address water contaminants found since the agreement was 
ratified.
  The Pechanga Band of Indians is a federally recognized Tribe whose 
ancestors have been living in the Temecula Valley for over 10,000 
years. After being forced out of their ancestral home, Temeeku, in 
1875, the Tribe rebuilt and reestablished their homes nearby, which 
later became the federally recognized Pechanga Indian Reservation in 
1882.
  Since the 1950s, the Tribe has been working with the surrounding 
water users to develop agreements on water rights and to protect the 
long-term water supply and sustainability of the Santa Margarita River 
Watershed, including the groundwater in the Wolf Valley Aquifer.
  The Tribe reached a settlement agreement with the Rancho California 
Water District, Eastern Municipal Water District, Metropolitan Water 
District, and the United States, which was ratified as part of the 
Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act, WIIN, Act in 2016 
and was made fully enforceable in 2020. This agreement clarified the 
Tribe's water rights and established mutual cooperative water 
management agreements with the local water agencies. The agreement also 
established a water quality fund for addressing salinity caused by the 
use of recycled and imported water.
  However, the water settlement agreement currently only applies to 
land that was held in trust at the time of the settlement's 
ratification. The water quality fund is also currently restricted only 
to desalination activities.
  This bill would update the agreement's definition of ``Reservation'' 
to allow the Tribe to use their water rights on any current and future 
trust lands. The bill would also expand the possible uses of the water 
quality fund to include any water quality improvement activities, such 
as addressing PFAS and other emerging contaminants.
  I want to thank Senator Schiff for cosponsoring this bill, and 
Representative Darrell Issa for introducing companion legislation in 
the House. I urge my colleagues to support this technical fix that 
would preserve Pechanga's sovereignty over their water rights.

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