Taos Pueblo Indian Water Rights Settlement Act
Latest action · Jan 20, 2010 Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 257.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedMay 4, 2009
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Taos Pueblo Indian Water Rights Settlement Act - Authorizes, ratifies, and confirms the Settlement Agreement of March 31, 2006, between the United States, the Taos Pueblo, New Mexico, the Taos Valley Acequia Association and its 55 member ditches, Taos, the El Prado Water and Sanitation District (EPWSD), and the 12 Taos area Mutual Domestic Water Consumers Associations, and any amendments executed to make the Agreement consistent with this Act.
Requires water rights to which the Taos Pueblo is entitled under the Partial Final Decree entered in New Mexico v. Abeyta and New Mexico v. Arellano to be held in trust by the United States.
Directs the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Commissioner of Reclamation, to provide: (1) grants and technical assistance to the Pueblo to construct, replace, or rehabilitate water infrastructure, to protect the environment associated with the Buffalo Pasture area, and to enhance watershed conditions; and (2) financial assistance to eligible non-Pueblo entities for mutual-benefit projects in accordance with the Agreement.
Establishes in the Treasury the Taos Pueblo Water Development Fund.
Authorizes the Pueblo to market its water rights under the Agreement.
Directs the Secretary to enter into three repayment contracts for the delivery of specified amounts of San Juan-Chama Project water to the Pueblo, the town of Taos, and EPWSD.
Provides for the waiver and release of claims against the parties to New Mexico v. Abeyta and New Mexico v. Arellano in return for recognition of the Pueblo's water rights.
Authorizes appropriations for FY2010-FY2016 for the Taos Pueblo Infrastructure and Watershed Fund, for the Taos Pueblo Water Development Fund, and for Mutual-Benefit Projects funding (to minimize adverse impacts on the Pueblo's water resources by moving future non-Indian ground water pumping away from the Pueblo's Buffalo Pasture and to implement the resolution of a dispute over the allocation of certain surface water flows between the Pueblo and non-Indian irrigation water right owners in the community of Arroyo Seco Arriba).
Cosponsors 1
Members who signed on, in the order they did. All signed on May 4, 2009.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-NM | Tom Udall | Original | May 4, 2009 |
Actions 6
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Jan 20, 2010Committee on Indian Affairs. Reported by Senator Dorgan with amendments. With written report No. 111-117. Additional views filed.
- Jan 20, 2010Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 257.
- Sep 10, 2009Committee on Indian Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment favorably.
- May 4, 2009Introduced in Senate
- May 4, 2009Read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs. (text of measure as introduced: CR S5072-5075)
Related bills 2
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 3254 | Taos Pueblo Indian Water Rights Settlement Act | Identical bill | Feb 1, 2010 |
| HR 4783 | Claims Resolution Act of 2010 | Related bill | Dec 8, 2010 |
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Native Americans.
Text 2
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Jan 20, 2010Reported to Senate
- May 4, 2009Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.
