[Senate Report 119-125]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 429
119th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 119-125
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ZUNI INDIAN TRIBE WATER RIGHTS SETTLEMENT ACT OF 2025
_______
June 4, 2026.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Ms. Murkowski, from the Committee on Indian Affairs,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 564]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Indian Affairs, to which was referred the
bill (S. 564) to approve the settlement of water rights claims
of the Zuni Indian Tribe in the Zuni River Stream System in the
State of New Mexico, to protect the Zuni Salt Lake, and for
other purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably
thereon without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.
PURPOSE
S. 564 would resolve the water rights claims of the Zuni
Indian Tribe in the Zuni River Basin in New Mexico while also
safeguarding Zuni Salt Lake and its surrounding lands, which
have spiritual and cultural significance to the Tribe.
BACKGROUND AND NEED
The A:shiwi (Zuni people) of western New Mexico rely on
water from the Zuni River Basin and the tributaries of the
Little Colorado River to support their lifeways. In 2003,
Congress enacted the Zuni Indian Tribe Water Rights Settlement
Act,\1\ to ratify and resolve the Zuni Tribe's water rights
claims in the Little Colorado River Basin in Arizona. However,
Congress has not yet enacted legislation to ratify or resolve
the Zuni Tribe's water rights claims in the Zuni River Basin in
New Mexico.
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\1\Zuni Indian Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act of 2003, Pub. L.
No. 108-34, 117 Stat. 782 (2003).
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The Zuni River is a tributary of the Little Colorado River
that originates in the Zuni Mountains of McKinley and Cibola
Counties, New Mexico near the Continental Divide. Historically,
the Zuni River was a high desert, perennial stream flowing
through the Zuni Mountains in western New Mexico to meet the
Little Colorado River in eastern Arizona.\2\ Beginning in the
late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, however,
upstream diversions, groundwater pumping, overgrazing,
deforestation, and federal water development projects
substantially altered natural stream flows of the Zuni River
available to the Zuni Tribe.\3\
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\2\U.S. Park Serv., HAER NM-7, Index to Photographs at 1-56 (1995).
\3\U.S. Geological Survey, Water-Supply Paper 2227, Water Resources
of the Zuni Tribal Lands, McKinley, and Cibola Cntys., NM. (1985).
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Central to these development efforts was the construction
of Black Rock Dam in 1908 by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The
dam was designed to impound approximately 15,000 acre-feet of
water in Black Rock Reservoir for irrigation and agricultural
use on Zuni Tribal lands. But the structure was plagued almost
immediately by an unstable foundation and a high degree of
siltation, severely limiting its utility and burying a sacred
spring. Today, the reservoir no longer functions as originally
intended and has failed to provide a reliable long-term water
supply to support irrigation-based agriculture on Zuni Tribal
lands.
At the same time, extensive timber harvesting and
overgrazing in the Zuni Mountains caused severe erosion and
additional siltation in the Zuni River, further impairing
stream flows and water quality. Combined with continued
upstream groundwater pumping and diversions by junior water
users, these impacts have substantially limited the Zuni
Tribe's ability to practice traditional floodwater farming
methods that have sustained the Tribe for centuries. These
conditions have also hindered efforts to rehabilitate and
modernize the Tribe's domestic water infrastructure and water
delivery systems.
The Zuni Salt Lake is a high desert lake located about 60
miles south of Zuni Pueblo in Western New Mexico.\4\ The lake
is sacred to the Tribe, and its salt has been traded
extensively by the Zuni Tribe and other Pueblos since time
immemorial, used for both religious and culinary purposes. The
Zuni Salt Lake was not part of the Zuni Tribe's original
reservation, but the United States returned the lake and 5,000
surrounding acres to the Zuni Tribe in 1985 following enactment
of Public Law 95-280 in 1978.\5\ In recognition of its
historical and cultural significance, the National Park Service
listed Zuni Salt Lake on the National Register of Historic
Places in 1999.\6\ Past proposals to develop fossil fuels, such
as coal, near the Zuni Salt Lake endangered water levels and
the aquifer below the lake as well as the surrounding
landscape.\7\ The area surrounding the lake consists of a
complex patchwork of Tribal, Federal, State, and privately
owned lands, complicating long-term efforts to protect the
hydrological, ecological, and cultural integrity of the region.
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\4\U.S. Geological Surv., Feature ID 923719, Summary Report: Zuni
Salt Lake (1981), https://edits.nationalmap.gov/apps/gaz-domestic/
public/search/names/923719.
\5\See Pub. L. No. 95-280, Sec. 1, 92 Stat. 244 (1978) (describing
the lands to be acquired into trust for the Zuni Indian Tribe of New
Mexico).
\6\New Mexico--Catron County--Historic Districts, National Register
of Historic Places, https://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/
NM/Catron/state.html (last visited Oct. 17, 2024).
\7\E.g. Protection of Native American Sacred Places as They are
Affected by Department of Defense Undertakings: Hearing Before the S.
Comm. on Indian Affrs., 107th Cong., 2d Sess.
19-25 (2002) (statement of Malcom Bowekaty, Governor, Pueblo of Zuni).
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S. 564 would authorize federal funding and establish
mechanisms necessary to implement the settlement agreement and
support long-term water reliability for the Tribe. The bill
would provide funding for water infrastructure, watershed
restoration, environmental protection, and other projects
intended to improve water supply, protect water quality, and
strengthen the Tribe's resilience to drought and changing
hydrologic conditions.
SUMMARY
S. 564 would authorize, ratify, and confirm the May 1,
2023, settlement agreement resolving the Zuni Tribe's water
rights claims in the Zuni River Stream System in New Mexico and
protecting the Zuni Salt Lake. The bill would direct the
Secretary of the Interior to execute, provide funding, and
authorize the actions necessary to implement the settlement
agreement.
The bill would establish the Zuni Tribe Settlement Trust
Fund, consisting of two mandatory-funded interest-bearing trust
fund accounts to develop water infrastructure for domestic,
municipal, and irrigation or agricultural uses:
the Zuni Tribe Water Rights Settlement Trust
Account ($655 million); and
the Zuni Tribe Operation, Maintenance, and
Replacement Trust Account ($29.5 million).
These accounts are intended to safeguard water resources
and its sustainable use for the Zuni Tribe by providing funding
to: replace the Tribe's aged municipal water system, which is
currently dependent on two wells located over 10 miles away
from Zuni Pueblo and has significant levels of contaminates
(including radionuclides and arsenic); replace outdated sewage
lagoons with a modern wastewater treatment facility that will
allow the re-use of wastewater; redesign and rehabilitate the
five irrigation units and associated reservoirs to adapt to
climatic conditions and traditional irrigation practices;
restoring the channels of the Zuni River and the Rio Nutria, a
tributary of the Zuni River, for traditional and cultural
purposes; repair and upgrade livestock watering facilities to
allow for more efficient and even use of the Zuni Tribe's range
lands by Tribal ranchers; and rehabilitate and develop
additional wells and community water hauling stations in areas
outside of the Zuni Tribe's main village area.
S. 564 would also protect the Zuni Salt Lake and Sanctuary,
defined as approximately 217,037 acres of mixed private, Tribal
trust, State, and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) administered
lands by withdrawing approximately 92,364 acres of Federal land
from entry, disposal, mining, and mineral or geothermal
leasing. On the enforceability date, the bill would direct the
Secretary to take into trust for the Tribe approximately 4,756
acres of BLM land identified as the ``Tribal Acquisition Area''
on the legislative map.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
S. 564 was introduced by Senators Heinrich and Lujan on
February 13, 2025. The Committee held a business meeting on
March 5, 2025, and ordered the bill to be reported favorably
without amendment.
An identical companion bill, H.R. 1444 was introduced by
Representative Vasquez (D-NM-2) with Representatives Ledger
Fernandez (D-NM-3) and Stansbury (D-NM-1) in the House of
Representatives on February 18, 2025. The bill was referred to
the House Committee on Natural Resources.
In the 118th Congress, an identical bill, S.4643 was
introduced by Senators Heinrich and Lujan on July 9, 2024. The
Committee held a legislative hearing on S. 4643 on September
25, 2024. (S. Hrg. 118-551). The Committee held a business
meeting to consider S. 4643 on September 18, 2024, and ordered
the bill reported favorably, without amendment (S. Rept. 118-
262).
An identical companion bill, H.R. 8951, was introduced by
Representative Vasquez (D-NM-2) with Representatives Ledger
Fernandez (D-NM-3) and Stansbury (D-NM-1) in the House of
Representatives on July 8, 2024. Representative Gallego (D-AZ-
1) was added as a cosponsor on July 30, 2024. The House Natural
Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries held a
hearing on H.R. 8951 on July 23, 2024.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION
The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in an open business
meeting on March 5, 2025, by a majority voice vote of a quorum
present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 564, without
amendment.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1--Short title; Table of Contents
Section 1(a) sets forth the short title of the bill as the
``Zuni Indian Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act of 2025.''
Section 1(b) sets forth the table of contents.
Section 2--Definitions
This section provides definitions for various terms used
throughout the bill.
TITLE I--ZUNI INDIAN TRIBE WATER RIGHTS SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT
Section 101--Purposes
This section sets forth the four-fold purpose of the bill
to:
Achieve an equitable final settlement of all
claims to water rights in the Zuni River Stream System
for the Zuni Tribe and the United States acting as its
trustee;
Authorize, ratify, and confirm the
Settlement Agreement to Quantify and Protect the Water
Rights of the Zuni Indian Tribe in the Zuni River Basin
in New Mexico (Agreement) entered into by the Zuni
Tribe, the State of New Mexico, and various other
parties;
Authorize and direct the Secretary of the
Interior to execute and carry out the Agreement; and
Authorize funding to implement the
Agreement.
Section 102--Definitions
This section provides definitions for various terms used
throughout title I of the bill.
Section 103--Ratification of the Agreement
Section 103(a)-(b) authorizes, ratifies, and confirms the
Agreement and conforming amendments; directs the Secretary of
the Interior to execute the Agreement and amendments, and
authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to make modifications
consistent with congressional approval requirements and federal
law.
Section 103(c) requires the Secretary of the Interior and
the Zuni Tribe to comply with applicable federal environmental
laws, affirms that execution of the Agreement does not
constitute a major federal action under the National
Environmental Policy Act, and provides for the Zuni Tribe's
costs for related compliance activities to be paid from the
Zuni Tribe Settlement Trust Fund.
Section 104--Tribal Water Rights
Section 104(a) clarifies that the Zuni Tribe's Water Rights
are to be held in trust by the United States.
Section 104(b) protects these rights from loss through non-
use, forfeiture, abandonment, or other operation of law, and
preserves after-acquired State-law based water rights.
Section 104(c) clarifies that any use of the Zuni Tribe's
Water Rights shall be subject to the Agreement and title I of
this bill.
Section 104(d) affirms that the Zuni Tribe's Water Rights
do not include any water rights for an allotment.
Section 104(e) affirms that nothing in this title
quantifies or diminishes the water rights, or claims to water
rights, of allottees.
Section 104(f) clarifies that any use of water on an
allotment shall be accounted for out of the Zuni Tribe's Water
Rights recognized in the Agreement.
Section 104(g) prohibits the Zuni Tribe from objecting to
the adjudication of certain water uses on an allotment, and
directs the Zuni Tribe to administer any water use on Zuni
lands in accordance with applicable Federal law, including
those on an allotment or decreed to the United States in trust
for an allottee.
Section 104(h) authorizes the Zuni Tribe to allocate,
distribute, and lease its water rights on and off Zuni lands,
and clarifies that any uses off Zuni lands are subject to the
terms of the Agreement, this title, and maximum lease terms not
to exceed 99 years.
Section 104(i) prohibits alienation and forfeiture of the
Zuni Tribe's Water Rights, and provides that authorizations of
this title satisfy the requirements for federal authorization
of purchases or grants of land from Indians.
Section 105--Settlement Trust Fund
Section 105(a) directs the Secretary of the Interior to
establish an interest-bearing trust fund, the Zuni Tribe
Settlement Trust Fund, in Treasury and requires the Secretary
of the Interior to manage, invest, and distribute the Zuni
Tribe Settlement Trust Fund, including investment earnings,
until the funds are expended, withdrawn, or reverted to the
Treasury.
Section 105(b) directs the Secretary of the Interior to
establish two accounts within the Zuni Tribe Settlement Trust
Fund: (1) the Zuni Tribe Water Rights Settlement Trust Account;
and (2) the Zuni Tribe Operations, Maintenance, & Replacement
Trust Account.
Section 105(c) directs the Secretary of the Interior to
deposit a total of $685 million in mandatory funds into the
Zuni Tribe Settlement Trust Fund, consisting of (1) the Zuni
Tribe Water Rights Settlement Trust Account ($655.5 million);
and (2) the Zuni Tribe Operations, Maintenance, & Replacement
Trust Account ($29.5 million).
Section 105(d) requires the Secretary of the Interior to:
(1) manage, invest, and distribute all amounts in the Zuni
Tribe Settlement Trust Fund in accordance with the American
Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act of 1994 and other
federal laws governing the deposit and investment of Tribal
funds; and (2) authorizes the use of investment earnings
accruing to the Zuni Tribe.
Section 105(e) requires the Secretary of the Interior to
make most funds available to the Zuni Tribe on the
enforceability date, with the exception of $50 million in
specified funds, including investment earnings, made available
upon deposit for specific uses.
Section 105(f) permits withdrawals from the Zuni Tribe
Settlement Trust Fund for certain specified purposes pursuant
to Tribal management and expenditure plans submitted by the
Zuni Tribe, approved and enforced by the Secretary of the
Interior in accordance with the American Indian Trust Fund
Management Reform Act of 1994, and a requirement that the Zuni
Tribe spend all amounts withdrawn, including investment
earnings, on purposes described in this title.
Section 105(g) clarifies that the Secretary of the
Interior's decision to approve a Tribal management or
expenditure plan is final and not subject to judicial review,
except for under the Administrative Procedure Act.
Section 105(h) authorizes specific uses of the Zuni Tribe
Settlement Trust Fund within the two subaccounts:
(1) Five specific uses of the Zuni Tribe Water Rights
Settlement Trust Account:
Water production, treatment, or
delivery infrastructure for domestic,
municipal, or wastewater use;
Water production, treatment, or
delivery infrastructure and acquisition of
water for irrigation, livestock, and
agriculture;
Watershed and endangered species
habitat protection, land and water rights
acquisition, community welfare and economic
development, and implementation of the
Agreement;
Environmental compliance for
projects authorized by this title;
Management and administration of
Zuni Tribal water rights;
(2) One specific use of the Zuni Tribe Operation,
Maintenance, & Replacement Trust Account:
Operation, maintenance, and
replacement of water infrastructure for
domestic, commercial, municipal, industrial,
irrigation, and livestock uses.
Section 105(i) limits federal liability for expenditures
and investments of amounts withdrawn from the Zuni Tribe
Settlement Trust Fund under a Tribal management plan or Tribal
expenditure plan.
Section 105(j) requires the Zuni Tribe to submit an annual
expenditure report to the Secretary of the Interior regarding
withdrawals from the Zuni Tribe Settlement Trust Fund under a
Tribal management plan or Tribal expenditure plan.
Section 105(k) prohibits per capita distribution of any
portion of the Zuni Tribe Settlement Trust Fund.
Section 105(l) confirms the Zuni Tribe will retain title,
control, and operation of any project infrastructure
constructed with funds from the Zuni Tribe Settlement Trust
Fund.
Section 105(m) clarifies that the Zuni Tribe is responsible
for the operation, maintenance, and replacement costs of any
project infrastructure constructed with funds from the Zuni
Tribe Settlement Trust Fund.
Section 106--Funding
Section 106(a) directs a total of $685 million in mandatory
funds for the Zuni Tribe Settlement Trust Fund, consisting of
(1) the Zuni Tribe Water Rights Settlement Trust Account
($655.5 million); and (2) the Zuni Tribe Operations,
Maintenance, & Replacement Trust Account ($29.5 million).
Section 106(b) provides for adjustments of the Zuni Tribe
Settlement Trust Fund to address cost fluctuation and market
volatility.
Section 106(c) requires the State of New Mexico to
contribute $750,000 for the development and execution of
monitoring plans, and $500,000 for deposit into an interest-
bearing account to mitigate impairment to non-Indian domestic
and livestock groundwater rights resulting from the Zuni
Tribe's water use.
Section 107--Waivers and releases of claims
Section 107(a)-(c) requires the parties to execute waivers
and releases of claims related to the Zuni Tribe's water rights
in the Zuni River Stream System before and including the
enforceability date, and clarifies that such waivers and
releases shall take effect on the enforceability date.
Section 107(d)-(e) reserves to the United States and the
Zuni Tribe's claims to enforce water rights and water quality
claims accruing after the enforceability date; preserves the
sovereignty and jurisdiction of the United States and Tribal
government entities; preserves the United States' authority to
fulfill its trust responsibilities and enforce its laws,
including environmental laws; clarifies that the bill does not
confer jurisdiction on any State court to interpret federal
health, safety, or environmental laws or determine the duties
of any party thereunder, conduct judicial review of any federal
agency action, or interpret Zuni Tribal law; and clarifies that
the bill does not waive individual Zuni Tribal member claims.
Section 107(f)-(g) provides for tolling of claims and
equitable defenses between the enactment and enforceability
dates, and provides for termination of the agreement if the
Secretary of the Interior's statement of findings is not issued
by July 1, 2030, or a later date mutually agreed upon by the
Zuni Tribe and the United States with notice to the State of
New Mexico.
Section 108--Satisfaction of claims
This section provides that benefits realized under the bill
shall serve as full satisfaction of any claim of the Zuni Tribe
against the United States that the Zuni Tribe waives and
releases under the bill.
Section 109--Enforceability date
This section establishes the enforceability date as the day
on which the Secretary of the Interior publishes a statement of
findings, including enumerated requirements, in the Federal
Register.
Section 110--Miscellaneous Provisions
Section 110(a)-(c) clarifies that nothing in the bill:
waives the United States' sovereign immunity; quantifies or
diminishes land and water rights of other Tribes; or affects
laws or regulations in effect prior to enactment regarding pre-
enforcement review of federal environmental enforcement
actions.
Section 110(d) provides that in the event of a conflict
between title 1 of this bill and the Agreement, title 1 shall
control.
Section 111--Relation to Allottees
This section clarifies that nothing in the bill or the
Agreement affects the rights or claims of Zuni allottees, the
United States as trustee for Zuni allottees, or allotments.
Section 112--Antideficiency
This section clarifies that the United States shall not be
liable for failure to perform if adequate appropriations are
not provided by Congress.
TITLE II--ZUNI SALT LAKE AND SANCTUARY PROTECTION
Section 201--Definitions
This section provides definitions for various terms used
throughout title II of the bill.
Section 202--Withdrawal of certain Federal land in New Mexico
Section 202(a) withdraws, subject to valid existing rights,
92,364 acres of Federal land located within the boundary of the
217,037 acre Zuni Salt Lake and Sanctuary from mineral
development.
Section 202(b) withdraws, subject to valid existing rights,
any Federal land located within this boundary that is acquired
after the date of enactment.
Section 202(c) reserves the Federal land withdrawn for
three specific purposes: (1) the protection of the Zuni Salt
Lake and Sanctuary; (2) the protection of the quality and
quantity of the Zuni Salt Lake's water supply; and (3) the
protection of any cultural resources associated with the Zuni
Salt Lake and Sanctuary.
Section 203--Management of Federal land
Section 203(a) requires the Secretary of the Interior,
through the BLM, to manage the Federal land withdrawn for the
purposes described in Section 202(c), in accordance with the
Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 and in
consultation with the Zuni Tribe.
Section 203(b) applies specific use restrictions to the
Federal land withdrawn, including motor vehicle use, new water
wells, expanded grazing uses, issuance of rights-of-way and
leases, timber sales or free use, and casual collecting.
Section 204--Transfer of land into trust
Section 204(a) directs the Secretary of the Interior to
take the ``Tribal Acquisition Area'' into trust for the Zuni
Tribe, subject to valid existing rights, contracts, leases, and
rights-of-way; directs the Bureau of Indian Affairs to assume
all land management responsibilities for these valid existing
rights; clarifies ownership of, disposal of, and liability for
personal property on land taken into trust; terminates the
withdrawal of Federal lands from mineral development upon the
date that land is taken into trust; and takes into trust any
water rights associated with the land taken into trust for the
Zuni Tribe, but clarifies that those water rights are not
included in this bill.
Section 204(b) directs the Secretary of the Interior to
take legal title of the Potential Future Acquisition Areas,
pending certain conditions are met.
Section 205--Maps and legal descriptions
Section 205(a) directs the Secretary of the Interior to
publish in the Federal Register maps and legal descriptions of
the Federal land withdrawn and the land taken into trust for
the Zuni Tribe.
Section 205(b) clarifies the legal effect of the maps and
legal descriptions published in the Federal Register.
Section 205(c) requires that copies of the maps and legal
descriptions be available for public inspection in appropriate
BLM offices.
COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
The bill would:
Secure water rights for the Zuni Indian
Tribe of New Mexico by ratifying a 2023 agreement
between the tribe and other parties
Establish and appropriate funds for the Zuni
Tribe Settlement Trust Fund to be administered by the
Department of the Interior until its transfer to the
tribe
Transfer federal land to a trust for the
protection of the Zuni Salt Lake and Sanctuary
Estimated budgetary effects would mainly stem from:
Spending of appropriated amounts
Spending of interest credited to the trust
fund
Transfer of the trust fund's ownership to
the Zuni Tribe
Areas of significant uncertainty include:
Projecting the amount of interest to be
credited to the trust fund
Anticipating when the water rights
settlement would be final
Bill summary: S. 564 would secure water rights for the Zuni
Indian Tribe of New Mexico by ratifying a 2023 settlement
agreement between the tribe, the State of New Mexico, the New
Mexico state engineer, and the federal government in its
capacity as the tribe's trustee.
The bill would establish and appropriate funds to
capitalize two accounts within the Zuni Tribe Settlement Trust
Fund, which would be credited with interest during the period
in which the trust fund is administered by the Department of
the Interior (DOI). Once the parties to the settlement have met
specified conditions, the federal government would transfer
ownership of the trust fund, including any interest credited to
the fund, to the tribe for use in constructing and maintaining
water projects. At that time, DOI also would be directed to
transfer specific federal land to be held in trust for the Zuni
Tribe.
Estimated Federal cost: The estimated budgetary effects of
S. 564 are shown in Table 1. The costs of the legislation fall
within budget function 300 (natural resources and environment).
TABLE 1.--ESTIMATED BUDGETARY EFFECTS OF S. 564
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By fiscal year, millions of dollars--
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2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 2035 2036 2026-2031 2026-2036
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INCREASES IN DIRECT SPENDING
Zuni Tribe Settlement Trust Fund:
Estimated Budget Authority....................... 824 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 824 824
Estimated Outlays................................ 3 21 21 5 774 0 0 0 0 0 0 824 824
Interest Credited to the Trust Fund:
Estimated Budget Authority....................... 0 27 30 31 32 0 0 0 0 0 0 120 120
Estimated Outlays................................ 0 0 0 0 120 0 0 0 0 0 0 120 120
Total Changes:
Estimated Budget Authority....................... 824 27 30 31 32 0 0 0 0 0 0 944 944
Estimated Outlays................................ 3 21 21 5 894 0 0 0 0 0 0 944 944
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CBO estimates that, starting in 2026, enacting the bill's provisions would decrease offsetting receipts (and thus increase direct spending) from fees
for grazing and rights-of-way by less than $500,000 in any year and over the 2026-2036 period.
CBO estimates that implementing S. 564 would increase spending subject to appropriation by less than $500,000 in any year through 2031, totaling $1
million over the 2026-2031 period; any related spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
Basis of estimate: For this estimate, CBO assumes that the
bill will be enacted and the specified amounts deposited into
the trust fund in fiscal year 2026.
Using information from DOI and based on the bill's
specifications, CBO expects that the following conditions will
be met by July 1, 2030:
The settlement, including amendments
required to conform to the bill, will be final and
executed,
All waivers and releases of claims required
under the bill will be executed, and
All appeals will have been exhausted and the
courts will have approved the agreement as binding on
all parties.
CBO expects that DOI will publish a notice of the
settlement in the Federal Register, stating that the bill's
conditions have been met and that ownership of the trust fund
is to be transferred.
Direct spending: CBO estimates that enacting the bill would
increase direct spending by $944 million over the 2026-2036
period. When the federal government transfers ownership of the
trust fund to the Zuni Tribe, the amount transferred (including
credited interest) would be considered a federal expenditure.
The bill would make $50 million from the trust fund immediately
available to the tribe. Accordingly, CBO estimates that the
remaining $894 million would be transferred from the trust fund
to the tribe in 2030 when all conditions would have been met.
The federal government would retain fiduciary
responsibility over the trust fund until the tribe starts to
plan, design, construct, and maintain water projects; those
subsequent actions would not affect the federal budget.
Zuni Tribe Settlement Trust Fund. S. 564 would establish a
trust fund consisting of two interest-bearing accounts: the
Zuni Tribe Water Rights Settlement Trust Account and the Zuni
Tribe Operation, Maintenance, and Replacement Trust Account.
The bill would appropriate $685 million to capitalize those
accounts--$655.5 million for the first account and $29.5
million for the second.
Additional amounts also would be appropriated to account
for inflation over the period from 2022 until those amounts are
deposited into the fund. Based on the assumption that the bill
will be enacted in fiscal year 2026, CBO estimates that the
appropriation to account for inflation would be $139 million;
thus, we estimate that the appropriation for the fund would
total $824 million.
Under the bill, $50 million would be immediately available
from the trust fund for the tribe to plan, permit, design, and
operate water projects. Based on CBO's assumptions that the
settlement will be final by 2030 and that spending for
specified activities would continue until then, we estimate
that the tribe would spend that full amount over the 2026-2029
period.
Interest Credited to the Trust Fund. Using the interest
rates that underlie CBO's February 2026 baseline projections
and assuming that all conditions would be met by 2030, we
estimate that $120 million in interest would be credited to the
trust fund over the 2026-2030 period.
Land in Trust. S. 564 would immediately impose restrictions
on the management of federal land within the boundaries of the
Zuni Salt Lake and Sanctuary, including approximately 92,000
acres of land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
and any land acquired after the bill's enactment. In addition,
DOI would be directed to transfer that land to be held in trust
for the tribe in 2030, when CBO expects that all settlement
conditions will be satisfied.
Using information from BLM, CBO estimates that, starting in
2026, enacting the federal land management restrictions would
decrease offsetting receipts (and thus increase direct
spending) because BLM would no longer collect fees for grazing
or rights-of-way on that land. Using information from the
agency about those fees, CBO estimates that the increase in
direct spending would be less than $500,000 in any year and
over the 2026-2036 period.
Spending subject to appropriation: BLM and DOI also would
incur costs under S. 564 both to oversee the tribe's compliance
with environmental and technical standards and to complete the
land transfer. Using information from the agencies about
average costs for similar activities, CBO estimates that the
cost would be less than $500,000 in any year and would total $1
million over the 2026-2031 period; any related spending would
be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
Nonbudgetary effects: The agreement requires New Mexico to
contribute $1.25 million to support the settlement. If the
federal government takes control of assets that belong to other
entities, those amounts are generally considered nonbudgetary
and their collection and disbursement do not affect the
deficit.
Uncertainty: This estimate is subject to uncertainty
because the amount of interest credited to the fund would
depend on interest rates. If interest rates are higher or lower
than CBO currently projects, the amount of credited interest
transferred to the tribe would be correspondingly more or less
than CBO estimates.
In addition, the timing of when all settlement conditions
are satisfied will affect the amount of interest credited to
the fund. S. 564 would allow the parties to delay finalizing
the settlement if additional time is needed to satisfy the
required conditions. If settlement conditions are satisfied
later or earlier than CBO expects, the amount of credited
interest would be correspondingly more or less than CBO
estimates.
Finally, the bill would provide the Zuni Tribe with
immediate access to $50 million from the trust fund and any
interest earned on that amount before the settlement conditions
are finalized. If spending occurs more slowly or quickly than
CBO estimates, interest credited to the fund would be
correspondingly more or less than we estimate.
Pay-As-You-Go considerations: The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go
Act of 2010 establishes budget-reporting and enforcement
procedures for legislation affecting direct spending or
revenues. The net changes in outlays that are subject to those
pay-as-you-go procedures are shown in Table 1.
Increase in long-term net direct spending and deficits: CBO
estimates that enacting S. 564 would not increase net direct
spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive
10-year periods beginning in 2037.
Mandates: The bill contains no intergovernmental or
private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates
Reform Act.
Estimate prepared by: Federal costs: Alaina Rhee; Mandates:
Erich Dvorak.
Estimate reviewed by: Ann E. Futrell, Chief, Natural and
Physical Resources Cost Estimates Unit; Kathleen FitzGerald,
Chief, Public and Private Mandates Unit; H. Samuel Papenfuss,
Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.
Estimate approved by: Phillip L. Swagel, Director,
Congressional Budget Office.
REGULATORY AND PAPERWORK IMPACT STATEMENT
Paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the
Senate requires each report accompanying a bill to evaluate the
regulatory and paperwork impact that would be incurred in
carrying out the bill. The Committee believes that S. 564, as
reported, will have minimal impact on regulatory or paperwork
requirements.
EXECUTIVE TESTIMONY AND COMMUNICATIONS
The testimony provided by the U.S. Department of the
Interior from the September 25, 2024, hearing on S.4643
follows:
statement of bryan newland assistant secretary for indian affairs u.s.
department of the interior
s. 4643, zuni indian tribe water rights settlement act of 2024
S. 4643 would approve and provide authorizations to carry
out the settlement of certain water rights claims of the Zuni
Tribe in the Zuni River basin in New Mexico.
I. Background
A. Historical Context
Like other Pueblos in New Mexico, the Zuni Tribe were
agricultural people living in established villages when the
Spanish explorers first came to New Mexico. Before the Zuni
Tribe's lands became part of the United States, they fell under
the jurisdiction first of Spain, and later of Mexico, both of
which recognized and protected the rights of Pueblos to use
water. When the United States asserted its sovereignty over
Pueblo lands in what is now the State of New Mexico, it did so
under the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which
protected rights recognized by prior sovereigns, including
Pueblo rights.
B. The Zuni Tribe and Zuni Basin Water Resources
The Zuni Tribe has approximately 448,000 acres in west-
central New Mexico, approximately 32 miles south of Gallup, New
Mexico, and approximately 15,000 acres in east-central Arizona.
All of the Zuni Tribe's main villages are in New Mexico and the
Tribe has approximately 11,800 enrolled members, of which about
9,323 reside on the Tribe's lands.
The Zuni River basin, located in west-central New Mexico,
is a tributary to the Little Colorado River. The river
originates in the western slopes of the Zuni Mountains in New
Mexico and flows for about 90 miles in a southwesterly
direction through the Zuni Reservation and joins the Little
Colorado River, a tributary to the Colorado River, in Arizona.
The Zuni Tribe is located in an arid region of New Mexico,
and drought is a common occurrence that has impacted, and
continues to impact, the Tribe. Since time immemorial, the Zuni
Tribe has made use of the water in the Zuni River basin.
However, the supply of water in the Zuni River available to the
Zuni Tribe has been reduced over time from diversions by
neighboring non-Indian water users, including Ramah Dam on
Cebolla Creek, which lies upstream of the Zuni Tribe. In
addition, irrigation infrastructure constructed by the
Department of the Interior many years ago needs to be
rehabilitated and reconstructed. While the Zuni Tribe has
senior water rights in the basin, it is facing water shortages
that impact its ability to provide sustainable water for its
current and future water needs. Recent effects of global
warming and climate change are exacerbating these effects and
surface water supplies are dwindling. The Zuni Tribe seeks
funding as part of the proposed settlement to rehabilitate the
irrigation structures on its lands and to develop the Tribe's
water resources for various uses, including domestic and
municipal purposes, for current and future Tribal populations.
In 2001, after a failed adjudication in state court, the
United States filed suit in Federal court to adjudicate water
rights in the Zuni River basin in New Mexico. The adjudication
will resolve the water rights claims of non-Indians, the Zuni
Tribe, the Navajo Nation, and allottees.
Negotiations originally began in 1990 and were renewed in
2013, when the United States revived its team to negotiate a
comprehensive settlement of the Tribal water rights in the Zuni
River basin. The Zuni Tribe has reached settlement of its
claims in the basin, but the Navajo Nation has not.
II. Proposed Zuni Tribe Settlement Legislation
The Zuni Tribe and the State of New Mexico executed a
settlement agreement in 2023, quantifying the rights of the
Tribe and reaching agreement on other key issues. The Ramah
Land and Irrigation Company, comprised of non-Indian water
users upstream of the Zuni Tribe and the owner and operator of
Ramah Dam, signed a letter of support for the settlement
agreement in 2023, as well. The United States is not a
signatory to the 2023 settlement agreement.
S. 4643 would resolve all of the Zuni Tribe's water rights
claims in the Zuni River basin in New Mexico; ratify and
confirm the water rights settlement agreement among the Tribe
and the State of New Mexico; authorize the Secretary of the
Interior to sign the settlement agreement; and authorize funds
to implement the settlement.
S. 4643 would ratify and confirm the Zuni Tribe's water
rights to approximately 24,809 acre-feet per year (AFY) from
surface water and groundwater sources on the Pueblo, as well as
22,453 acre-feet in existing reservoir and stock pond storage.
These amounts include 5,000 AFY of groundwater use for past,
present, and future uses, including economic development for
the Zuni Tribe. In addition, pursuant to the settlement
agreement, the State closed both the Zuni River basin and the
Zuni Salt Lake and Sanctuary to any future appropriations of
groundwater and surface water in June and July 2023, (with the
exception of new livestock and domestic wells, which will be
limited to 0.5 acre-feet per year).
S. 4643 would also protect non-Indian water users, as the
Zuni Tribe would agree to not make priority calls against non-
Tribal adjudicated water rights as long as the water rights
holder does not object to the Zuni's Tribe's settlement.
Finally, S. 4643 would establish a Trust Fund for the Zuni
Tribe, totaling $685 million, to be indexed: (1) $655.5 million
in a Water Rights Settlement Trust Account and (2) $29.5
million in a Operation, Maintenance, & Replacement Trust
Account. The Zuni Tribe could use these Trust Funds to develop
water infrastructure as it determines necessary and on its own
timeframe. Monies in the Water Rights Settlement Trust Account
could be used by the Zuni Tribe for:
(1) Planning, permitting, designing, engineering,
constructing, reconstructing, replacing,
rehabilitating, operating, or repairing water
production, treatment, or delivery infrastructure,
including for domestic and municipal supply, or
wastewater infrastructure;
(2) Planning, permitting, designing, engineering,
constructing, reconstructing, replacing,
rehabilitating, operating, or repairing water
production, treatment, or delivery infrastructure,
acquisition of water, or on-farm improvements for
irrigation, livestock, and support of agriculture;
(3) Planning, permitting, designing, engineering,
constructing, reconstructing, replacing,
rehabilitating, operating, monitoring, or other
measures for watershed and endangered species habitat
protection and enhancement, land and water rights
acquisition, water related Tribal community welfare and
economic development, and costs relating to the
implementation of the settlement agreement;
(4) Ensuring environmental compliance in the
development and construction of projects under the
legislation; and
(5) Tribal water rights management and
administration.
The State of New Mexico would contribute $1.25 million to
provide for benefits of non-Indian water users. The State's
commitment includes $500,000 for a fund to mitigate impairment
to non-Indian livestock and domestic well rights resulting from
new or changed water uses by the Zuni Tribe and $750,000 to
develop monitoring programs to assess impacts to the Zuni Salt
Lake, which has significant cultural importance to the Zuni
Tribe and other Tribes and Pueblos.
There are 15 allotments within or near Zuni lands that
total approximately 2,213 acres. The water rights of these
allotments would not be settled at this time but would be
adjudicated later in the on-going adjudication. S. 4643 would
not in any way impose any conditions on the use of water on
these allotments or alter the ability of the United States and
allottees to make water rights claims for these lands in the
future.
Title II of S. 4643 would provide for protections for the
Zuni Salt Lake, a lake outside the Zuni basin that has great
spiritual and cultural meaning to the Zuni Tribe and other
Pueblos and Tribes in New Mexico. The legislation would
transfer approximately 4,822 acres of land surrounding the Lake
and managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) into trust
for the Zuni Tribe upon the enforceability date of the
settlement. In addition, the legislation would withdraw
approximately 92,364 acres of BLM land near the Zuni Salt Lake
and impose various restrictions on the management of those
lands to protect the Lake and its cultural values. The
withdrawal would include all BLM lands that are within the
closure order the State of New Mexico issued in July of 2023,
closing the area around the Zuni Salt Lake and Sanctuary to any
new appropriations of groundwater or surface water (with the
exception of new livestock and domestic wells, which will be
limited to 0.5 acre-feet per year).
III. Department of the Interior Position on S. 4643
The Department of the Interior is pleased to support S.
4643. This bill is the result of decades of litigation and over
a decade of good-faith negotiations. S. 4643 is designed to
meet the Zuni Tribe's current and long-term needs for water by
providing Trust Funds to be used by the Tribe according to its
needs and its own determinations. Rather than committing the
Zuni Tribe or the United States to construct specific water
infrastructure projects, the bill would allow the Tribe to make
decisions regarding how, when, and where to develop water
infrastructure on Zuni lands. This approach to settlement is
consistent with Tribal sovereignty and self-determination, and
with our trust responsibilities, and will help to ensure that
the Zuni Tribe can maintain its way of life.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
In the opinion of the Committee, it is necessary to
dispense with subsection 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing Rules
of the Senate to expedite the business of the Senate.
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