Navajo Nation Water Settlement & Northwestern New Mexico Rural Water Projects Acts of 2009 (includes funding mechanism for 3 tribal water settlements in NM)
Federal legislation: 2009 Omnibus Public Land Management, Title X, Navajo Nation Water Settlement & Northwestern New Mexico Rural Water Projects Acts (537 pages)
Abstract
Federal Legislation: Omnibus Public Land Management, Title X - Water Settlements, Subtitle B - Northwestern New Mexico Rural Water Projects Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project, PL 111-11, 123 Stat. 991. ◊ Parties: Navajo Nation and US. Part II, Section 10501 sets up the Reclamation Water Settlements Fund. For each of the fiscal years 2020 through 2029, the US will deposit 120M dollars into the Fund, if it is available, plus any interest which comes from Reclamation’s appropriation. The funds are to be spent on Indian water rights settlements that involve water supply infrastructure, to rehabilitate water delivery systems for conservation, or to restore habitat in the basin. It is to fund or assist funding the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project, any Navajo settlement in AZ, the federal share of the Aamodt and Abeyta settlements and the MT settlements for Crow, Ft Belknap and Blackfeet Tribes. ◊ Part III, Section 10601, Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project Act addresses the construction, operation, and maintenance of the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project, to allocate the water between the Nation, the Jicarilla Apache Nation and the City of Gallup and to authorize the DOI Secretary to enter into Project repayment contracts with the City and the Jicarilla Apache Nation. The Project consists of pumping plants, regulation, storage or treatment facilities, pipelines and power works. Once works are built, the US will convey title to Nation and the City as appropriate. This section addresses: delivery and uses of the Project water including within the reservation in NM and in AZ; transfers, hydropower, and underground storage; payment of construction costs, OM&R costs, project contracts, and repayments; the Navajo Nation Municipal Pipeline title conveyance and uses; and, conjunctive use wells, and irrigation projects. It authorizes for appropriations for 870M dollars over fiscal years 2009-2024 for the construction of the Project. [Source: Government Printing Office, http://www.gpo.gov]
