# 119-hr-2025: Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement Act of 2025 119-hr-2025, Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement Act of 2025, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Ciscomani, Juan [R-AZ-6] (R-AZ); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-05-13). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2025 - As of: 2026-05-13 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: 119-hr-2025 - Congress: 119 - Title: Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement Act of 2025 - Status: introduced - Introduced: 2025-03-11 - Sponsor: Rep. Ciscomani, Juan [R-AZ-6] (R-AZ) - Cosponsors: 6 - Policy area: Native Americans - Touches household money: yes - Last recorded action: 2026-05-13 ## Summary **Would finalize and fund a negotiated water-rights settlement for the Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe, and San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe.** This bill would ratify a detailed Settlement Agreement, allocate specific Colorado River and related waters, create tribal trust funds, and authorize construction and operation rules for a major pipeline. - Tribes and allottees: Would confirm and place enumerated surface and groundwater rights in federal trust and set specific allocations such as Navajo Upper Basin 44,700 AFY and Hopi Upper Basin 2,300 AFY. It creates multi-account trust funds for project construction, operation and maintenance, and conservation under federal trust-management rules. - Infrastructure, leasing, and interstate use: Would transfer the iina ba - paa tuwaqat'si pipeline to tribal ownership with a substantial-completion deadline of December 31, 2040, and make tribes responsible for day-to-day operation and power acquisition. The bill authorizes leases, exchanges, off-reservation municipal deliveries, Central Arizona Project transport, and caps Lower Basin leasing at 17,050 AFY for the first 20 years. - Legal and environmental tradeoffs: Includes comprehensive waivers and limited tribal sovereign-immunity waivers tied to enforcement of the Settlement Agreement and prevents tribal enforcement of several federal and tribal environmental laws on the specified tribal lands. *Would require a $5.1 billion appropriation deposited into implementation and trust accounts to carry out the settlement.* ## Cosponsors (6) - Rep. Stanton, Greg [D-AZ-4] (D-AZ), 2025-03-11T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Ansari, Yassamin [D-AZ-3] (D-AZ), 2025-03-11T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Grijalva, Raúl M. [D-AZ-7] (D-AZ), 2025-03-11T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Crane, Elijah [R-AZ-2] (R-AZ), 2025-03-11T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Schweikert, David [R-AZ-1] (R-AZ), 2025-03-11T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Grijalva, Adelita S. [D-AZ-7] (D-AZ), 2025-12-17T00:00:00.000Z ## Provisions PRIA read - New tribal pipeline to bring water: benefit, high. If enacted, Interior would plan, design, and build a pipeline to bring Lake Powell water to Navajo, Hopi, and San Juan Southern Paiute communities. It would deliver up to 7,100 acre‑feet per year to Navajo/San Juan Southern Paiute and up to 3,076 acre‑feet per year to Hopi. About $1.7 billion would… - New tribal water trust funds: benefit, high. If enacted, new trust funds would support Navajo, Hopi, and San Juan Southern Paiute water projects. The Hopi fund would receive about $515.2 million across five accounts, and the San Juan Southern Paiute fund would receive $29.8 million. Money could pay for drinking‑water projects, operations and… - Controlled withdrawals from tribal trust funds: benefit, medium. The Hopi Tribe and the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe would be able to withdraw money from their settlement trust funds after deposits only with an approved plan. A Tribal management plan or an expenditure plan must be approved by the Secretary and must follow this Act. Allowed uses for the San Jua… - Store water in Lake Powell 20 years: benefit, medium. If enacted, the Secretary would sign 20‑year agreements to store 17,050 AFY in Lake Powell for system conservation. Each year, the Navajo Nation would provide 16,214.55 AFY and the Hopi Tribe 835.45 AFY. Stored water could evaporate and would be released only under agreed rules or Bureau criteria.… - Creates San Juan Southern Paiute Reservation: benefit, low. About 5,400 acres would become the San Juan Southern Paiute Reservation and be held in trust for the Tribe. After the Secretary publishes the boundary notice, the Tribe would have full jurisdiction there under federal law, unless it agrees otherwise with the Navajo Nation. The Secretary would surve… - Leasing tribal water comes with charges: cost, medium. If you lease tribal Colorado River water, you would pay all operations, maintenance, replacement, and energy charges. If delivery uses the Central Arizona Project, you would have to pay CAP fixed OM&R and pumping energy charges in advance. The Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe, and the United States would… - Federal promises depend on future funding: cost, medium. The United States would not be liable for any project or payment under this Act unless Congress later provides enough money. Even if the Act authorizes spending, work would wait for explicit appropriations. - Limits on moving water off land: cost, medium. If enacted, moving tribal water off reservations or across basins would face tight limits. Cross‑basin deliveries would wait for new federal rules and would be capped at 17,050 AFY for 20 years, then up to 47,000 AFY minus certain Navajo diversions. Off‑reservation municipal use would be allowed on… - Confirm tribal water rights and shares: mixed, high. If enacted, the bill would confirm Navajo, Hopi, and San Juan Southern Paiute water rights in trust. On the enforceability date, Navajo would get 44,700 AFY plus 3,500 AFY of Fourth Priority water, and Hopi would get 2,300 AFY. Listed tribal rights could not be lost for non‑use. Certain tribal wate… - Pipeline build: cost sharing and fund holdbacks: mixed, high. The big regional pipeline would not start until phase-one design and environmental reviews are done and a cost‑sharing deal is signed. The Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe would split planning, construction, and maintenance costs as set in that deal. Half of each tribe’s water settlement trust fund wou… - Project funds indexed to construction costs: mixed, high. Money for the pipeline and related trust funds would be adjusted for inflation and cost swings after January 1, 2024. The Secretary would use Bureau of Reclamation cost indexes, and could adjust for sudden market shocks. Adjustments would repeat each time Congress adds more funding until the full a… - Settlement starts only after big conditions: mixed, high. If enacted, the settlement would take effect only after the Secretary publishes findings that many conditions are met. These include signatures by the U.S. and 30+ parties, court approval of decrees, tribal resolutions, a municipal services agreement, and about $5.1364 billion authorized, appropria… - Rules and costs to move tribal water: mixed, medium. If enacted, lessees that move tribal water through the CAP canal would have to pay all CAP operation, maintenance, and energy charges in advance. The Navajo Nation could use the Navajo‑Gallup project to move up to 12,000 AFY of non‑Project water, but must pay all costs to add capacity. Funds from a… - Legal waivers to settle tribal water claims: mixed, medium. If enacted, on the enforceability date the Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe, San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, and the United States would sign waivers and releases of many water‑related claims, with settlement benefits as full satisfaction. The United States would also waive certain claims against the Nava… - Limits on leasing tribal Colorado River water: mixed, medium. The Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe could lease certain Colorado River water with the Secretary’s approval. Leases must state where the water will go, how it will be used, and for how long. Early on, leasing would be capped at 17,050 acre‑feet per year combined for 20 years after the enforceability da… - Navajo Water Code fixes and review: mixed, medium. If told by the Secretary that its Water Code does not meet requirements, the Navajo Nation would have 3 years to submit changes. The Secretary would approve or disapprove within 180 days, with possible extensions. Until approval, the Secretary would administer certain Navajo Allottee water rights. - Rules to store, move, and count water: mixed, medium. Federal dams and certain San Juan River works could be used to move and deliver Navajo and Hopi tribal water. Storage contracts would need to name the storage place, diversion points, and delivery method, and not conflict with this Act. Storing Navajo Upper Basin water in New Mexico would need stat… - Tribes handle most environmental reviews: mixed, medium. Most environmental reviews for tribal water projects would be prepared by the Tribes and paid from their groundwater trust funds. Pipeline-related environmental review costs would come from the pipeline implementation fund. The federal government would still do its own review and approvals and pay… - Water use counted and state rights kept: mixed, medium. If enacted, certain tribal consumptive uses would be credited to Lee Ferry but charged to the Lower Basin and to Arizona’s 2,800,000 AF share. The bill would not change states’ Compact rights or set precedents beyond this settlement. Tribes would have new annual reporting and measuring duties start… - Narrow waiver to enforce this settlement: mixed, low. Parties could bring cases that only interpret or enforce this Act or the Settlement Agreement. Plaintiffs would have to name the Tribe or the United States as trustee and could not seek money, court costs, or attorney fees. The Tribes consented to this limited waiver in May 2024 resolutions. ## Related bills - 119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026 - 119-hr-9237: Take Care of America’s Veterans Act - 119-hr-7714: To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 101 North Colorado Street in Chandler, Arizona, as the "Mayor Coy Payne Memorial Post… - 119-hr-6247: To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 13355 North Lon Adams Road in Marana, Arizona, as the "Mayor Ed Honea Memorial Post Of… - 119-hr-4919: To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 765 West Old Route 66 in Ash Fork, Arizona, as the "Fayrene Hume Post Office". - 119-hr-4206: CONNECT for Health Act of 2025 ## Sources - [119-hr-2025 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/2025) ## Related - [119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9877) - [119-hr-9237: Take Care of America’s Veterans Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9237) - [119-hr-7714: To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 101 No…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7714) - [119-hr-6247: To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 13355…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-6247) - [119-hr-4919: To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 765 We…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4919) - [119-hr-4206: CONNECT for Health Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4206) - [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2025 (as of 2026-05-13).