Blackfeet Water Rights Settlement Act of 2011
Latest action · Nov 4, 2011 Referred to the Subcommittee on Water and Power.
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.
- IntroducedNov 1, 2011
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Blackfeet Water Rights Settlement Act of 2011 - Directs the Secretary of the Interior, in providing to the Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana the St. Mary River water right, to allocate to the Tribe 50,000 acre-feet per year of stored water in Lake Sherburne Reservoir as part of the tribal water right. Exempts the Tribe from any requirement to pay any costs associated with the allocation. Prohibits the allocation from being increased by any year-to-year carryover storage.
Requires the Tribe and the Secretary to enter into an agreement to lease the water allocated to the Tribe for use by the Secretary for the Milk River Project.
Requires, as part of the tribal water right, the Secretary to allocate permanently to the Tribe all remaining unallocated water in Lake Elwell. Exempts the Tribe from any requirement to pay any costs associated with the allocation. Prohibits the allocation from being increased by any year-to-year carryover storage.
Directs the Secretary to carry out activities necessary to: (1) planning, design, and construction for rehabilitation and improvement of the Blackfeet Irrigation Project; (2) the completion to authorized acreage of the Blackfeet Irrigation Project; and (3) planning, design, and construction for rehabilitation and improvement of the Four Horns Dam and Reservoir and associated delivery systems of the Blackfeet Irrigation Project.
Authorizes, ratifies, and confirms a specified compact and the Birch Creek Agreement.
Holds the tribal water right in trust by the United States for the benefit of the Tribe.
Establishes: (1) the Blackfeet Land and Water Development Fund, and (2) the Birch Creek Mitigation Fund.
Sets forth requirements concerning: (1) water rights in the Lewis and Clark National Forest, and (2) Milk River water rights.
Cosponsors
Members who signed on, in the order they did.
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Natural Resources Committee | Referred Nov 1, 2011 |
| Water, Wildlife and Fisheries Subcommittee | Referred Nov 4, 2011 |
Actions 3
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Nov 4, 2011Referred to the Subcommittee on Water and Power.
- Nov 1, 2011Introduced in House
- Nov 1, 2011Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the page H7208.
Printed hearings 1
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| S. Hrg. 112-634 | INDIAN WATER RIGHTS: PROMOTING THE NEGOTIATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF WATER SETTLEMENTS IN INDIAN COUNTRY79 pages | Indian Affairs Committee | Mar 15, 2012 |
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 399 | Blackfeet Water Rights Settlement Act of 2011 | Identical bill | Oct 20, 2011 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To modify the purposes and operation of certain facilities of the Bureau of Reclamation to implement the water rights compact among the State of Montana, the Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana, and the United States, and for other purposes.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Blackfeet Water Rights Settlement Act of 2011
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Native Americans.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Nov 1, 2011Introduced in House
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; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
