# 119-hr-1482: Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project Amendments Act of 2025

119-hr-1482, Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project Amendments Act of 2025, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Leger Fernandez, Teresa [D-NM-3] (D-NM); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-04-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1482
- As of: 2026-04-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-1482
- Congress: 119
- Title: Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project Amendments Act of 2025
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-02-21
- Sponsor: Rep. Leger Fernandez, Teresa [D-NM-3] (D-NM)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Policy area: Native Americans
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-04-21

## Summary

**Expands and funds the Navajo‑Gallup Water Supply Project and creates new Treasury‑managed tribal settlement trust funds.** This bill would restructure project finance, add a Deferred Construction Fund and Working Cost Estimate process, broaden service to more Navajo and Jicarilla communities, and permit limited non‑Project water transfers to Utah under strict conditions. - Creates three Settlement Trust Funds managed by the Secretary for Navajo water development and for Navajo and Jicarilla operations, maintenance, and replacement. It authorizes a $250 million deposit for the Navajo O&M&R fund and up to $10 million for the Jicarilla fund and bans per‑capita payouts. - Raises the Navajo‑Gallup authorization to $2.2 billion and creates a Deferred Construction Fund to finance delayed or alternate facilities. It allows alternate facilities, extends some repayment terms to 15 years, and caps the City’s repayment while protecting participants from higher O&M shares due to non‑Project water. - Permits the Navajo Nation to send up to 2,000 acre‑feet per year of non‑Project water to Utah only if conditions in the Navajo/Utah Settlement Agreement are met. Federal funding for non‑Project infrastructure is prohibited except under a few named laws and transfers cannot delay the Project. *Would authorize about $2.2 billion for the project and include at least $250 million in trust deposits plus up to $10 million for Jicarilla, increasing federal obligations.*

## Cosponsors (1)

- Rep. Stansbury, Melanie A. [D-NM-1] (D-NM), 2025-02-21T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Water O&M funds for Navajo and Jicarilla: benefit, high. If enacted, this would set up long‑term trust funds to help pay Navajo-Gallup Project operation, maintenance, and replacement costs. For the Navajo Nation, up to $250 million could be deposited and invested, with the amount adjusted for cost changes after October 2022 using the Bureau of Reclamatio…
- Updated costs and more time to finish: benefit, medium. If enacted, this would create a Deferred Construction Fund for delayed Project pieces, with all required deposits due by December 31, 2029. Once deposits are in, the Project construction deadline would be treated as met for those deferred facilities. It would set a Working Cost Estimate of about $2…
- More communities served, limited water to Utah: benefit, low. If enacted, the Project could serve more Navajo Nation communities in New Mexico’s Rio San Jose Basin and in Lupton, Arizona, without raising total Project costs, and it could lower per‑user O&M costs. The Navajo Nation could also deliver up to 2,000 acre‑feet per year of non‑Project water to Navaj…
- Put Project lands into Navajo trust: benefit, low. If enacted, the Secretary would place specified Project parcels, some BLM lands, and land under the San Juan Generating Station into trust for the Navajo Nation after conditions are met. The lands would join the Navajo Reservation and keep valid existing rights. The United States would keep perpetu…
- Renewable power funding for Project sites: benefit, low. If enacted, the Secretary could use up to $6.25 million from existing funds to add renewable energy where Project sites lack Colorado River Storage Project power. Up to $1.25 million could support small hydro where water pressure allows it.
- Tax rules for Project work: mixed, low. If enacted, Project construction and operations on Navajo trust land would be taxed by the Navajo Nation and exempt from state and local taxes. The same work on non‑trust land would be taxed by the state or local government and exempt from Navajo Nation taxes. This would prevent both governments fr…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act
- 119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act
- 119-hr-3971: Domestic Workers Bill of Rights Act
- 119-hr-5356: National Infrastructure Bank Act of 2025
- 119-hr-3069: Medicare for All Act
- 119-hr-7853: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026

## Sources
- [119-hr-1482 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1482)

## Related
- [119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7977)
- [119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7973)
- [119-hr-3971: Domestic Workers Bill of Rights Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3971)
- [119-hr-5356: National Infrastructure Bank Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-5356)
- [119-hr-3069: Medicare for All Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3069)
- [119-hr-7853: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7853)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1482 (as of 2026-04-21).