Gros Ventre and Assiniboine Tribes of the Fort Belknap Indian Community Water Rights Settlement Act of 2021
Latest action · Oct 6, 2021 Committee on Indian Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 117-138.
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 27, 2021
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Gros Ventre and Assiniboine Tribes of the Fort Belknap Indian Community Water Rights Settlement Act of 2021
This bill modifies and ratifies a specified water rights settlement agreement entered into by the United States, Montana, and the Fort Belknap Indian Community (i.e., the Gros Ventre and Assiniboine Tribes of the Fort Belknap Reservation of Montana).
The bill requires the community's water rights to be held in trust for the benefit of the community and its allottees. The community must enact a tribal water code to regulate its water rights.
Among other activities, the Department of the Interior must
- negotiate with Montana for the transfer of specified parcels of state land located on and off the reservation,
- hold transferred land in trust for the benefit of the community,
- allocate 20,000 acre-feet per year of stored water from Lake Elwell,
- establish a settlement trust fund, and
- enter into a cost-share agreement with Montana to contribute to the design and construction of the Peoples Creek Dam and Reservoir to support mitigation activities.
The bill requires the Bureau of Reclamation to modify the operating procedures of the Milk River Project to ensure that the Fresno Reservoir is operated in accordance with the agreement.
The bill also outlines certain waivers, releases, and retention of claims under the settlement agreement.
Cosponsors
Members who signed on, in the order they did.
Actions 3
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Oct 6, 2021Committee on Indian Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 117-138.
- May 27, 2021Introduced in Senate
- May 27, 2021Read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs.
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Native Americans.
- Alternative dispute resolution, mediation, arbitration
- Dams and canals
- Department of the Interior
- Economic development
- Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
- Executive agency funding and structure
- Federal-Indian relations
- Government information and archives
- Government liability
- Government studies and investigations
- Government trust funds
- Historical and cultural resources
- Hunting and fishing
- Indian lands and resources rights
- Indian social and development programs
- Intergovernmental relations
- Lakes and rivers
- Land transfers
- Land use and conservation
- Missouri River
- Montana
- Native Americans
- Outdoor recreation
- State and local government operations
- Water quality
- Water resources funding
- Water storage
- Water use and supply
- Watersheds
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- May 27, 2021Introduced 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.