§1522 Orme Dam and Reservoir

Summary

The Secretary must pick the lands in the Salt River Pima‑Maricopa and Fort McDowell‑Apache communities (and any allotted lands there) that are needed for building, running, and keeping Orme Dam and Reservoir or an alternative. The United States will offer to pay the fair market value for those lands and any buildings on them. The government will also pay up to $500,000 total to relocate or replace improvements, and for a home the relocation payment cannot be more than the difference between the home’s fair market value and $8,000. Each tribe and each affected allottee has six months to accept or reject the offer. If they refuse, the United States can use eminent domain in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona under sections 3113 and 3114(a)–(d) of title 40. When an offer is accepted in writing or when a declaration of taking is filed, title and possession go to the United States. If the Secretary later decides land is no longer needed, title can be returned to the proper community when the government is repaid what it paid. Land taken will still allow the former owner to use or lease it for activities that don’t conflict with the project, under rules the Secretary sets, and that right includes taking and selling minerals. The price paid must reflect those retained rights. Because much Fort McDowell land will be affected, the Secretary must add 2,500 acres nearby to the Fort McDowell Reservation in township 4 north, range 7 east; township 5 north, range 7 east; and township 3 north, range 7 east, Gila and Salt River base meridian, Arizona, and the United States will hold those added lands in trust for the tribe. Each community may develop and run recreation on its part of the reservoir shoreline under Secretary‑approved plans, with a master recreation plan for the whole reservoir. Community members may hunt and fish on the reservoir without charge as they do now, but communities may not bar others except by controlling access through the reservation or charge the public except for using community lands or facilities. All money paid under these rules, and any per capita shares, are exempt from State and Federal income taxes.