H.R. 1322 — Rio San José and Rio Jemez Water Settlements Act of 2025

This section establishes the purposes of the title: to achieve a fair, equitable, and final settlement of all claims to water rights in the Rio San José Stream System general stream adjudication pending in the Thirteenth Judicial District Court of New Mexico for the Pueblo of Acoma, the Pueblo of Laguna, and the United States acting as trustee for those Pueblos; to authorize, ratify, and confirm the settlement agreement to the extent it is consistent with this title; to direct the Secretary to execute the agreement and take any other actions needed to carry it out; and to authorize the funds necessary to implement the agreement and this title.

This section establishes definitions for terms used throughout the title governing the Rio San José Stream System water rights settlement in New Mexico. It defines the affected acequias, the Pueblo of Acoma and the Pueblo of Laguna, the Rio Puerco Basin, Rio San José Stream System, and Rio Salado Basin by reference to specific U.S. Geological Survey hydrologic unit codes and court filings; identifies the “Agreement” as the May 13, 2022, Rio San José Stream System Water Rights Local Settlement Agreement and any conforming amendments; and defines the “Adjudication” as the consolidated State of New Mexico water rights case pending in the Thirteenth Judicial District Court of New Mexico. It also defines the “Enforceability Date” by reference to section 107, the “Partial Final Judgment and Decree” as the final or interlocutory decree entered by the Decree Court that is substantially in the form described in the Agreement and no longer appealable, and the “Pueblo Trust Fund” to include the Pueblo of Acoma Settlement Trust Fund, the Pueblo of Laguna Settlement Trust Fund, and the Acomita Reservoir Works Trust Fund established under section 105(a). (Thus, these definitions set the legal scope of the settlement, the lands and water rights covered, and the entities responsible for implementation.)

This section ratifies and confirms, subject to the title’s modifications, an Agreement involving the Pueblos and directs the Secretary of the Interior to execute the Agreement and any Secretary-signed attachments, while allowing post-execution modifications that are consistent with the title and do not require additional congressional approval under 25 U.S.C. 177 or other Federal law. It also requires the Secretary and the Pueblos to comply with the Endangered Species Act of 1973, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, and all other applicable Federal environmental laws in implementing the Agreement, and provides that the Secretary’s execution of the Agreement is not a major Federal action under NEPA. The section further assigns the Pueblos responsibility for preparing any necessary environmental documents, requires the Secretary to independently evaluate that documentation and remain responsible for its accuracy, scope, and contents, and directs that compliance costs be paid from Pueblo Trust Funds, except for costs associated with Federal approval or review and other inherently Federal functions, which remain the Secretary’s responsibility.

This section places the Pueblo Water Rights in trust with the United States on behalf of the Pueblos under the Agreement and this title, and bars loss of those rights through non-use, forfeiture, abandonment, or other operation of law. It also provides that State-law based water rights acquired by a Pueblo, or by the United States on behalf of a Pueblo, after the date for inclusion in the Partial Final Judgment and Decree are protected from forfeiture, abandonment, or permanent alienation from the time they are acquired. This section further excludes any water uses or water rights claims on an allotment from the Pueblo Water Rights and authorizes the Pueblos to allocate, distribute, and lease those rights for use on Pueblo land, and off Pueblo land with the Secretary’s approval, in accordance with the Agreement, this title, and applicable Federal law. It also requires the Pueblos not to object in any general stream adjudication, including the Adjudication, to the quantification of reasonable domestic, stock, and irrigation water uses on an allotment, and to recognize existing water uses on an allotment as of the date of enactment, reasonable domestic, stock, and irrigation uses, and any decreed allotment water right. This section prohibits the permanent alienation of any portion of the Pueblo Water Rights and provides that authorization under this title for allocation, distribution, leasing, or other arrangements satisfies any Federal-law authorization requirement for those actions. It also specifies that non-use of all or part of the Pueblo Water Rights by any water user does not result in forfeiture, abandonment, relinquishment, or other loss of those rights.

This section directs the Secretary of the Interior to establish 3 trust funds for the Pueblo of Acoma, the Pueblo of Laguna, and both Pueblos jointly—the Pueblo of Acoma Settlement Trust Fund, the Pueblo of Laguna Settlement Trust Fund, and the Acomita Reservoir Works Trust Fund—to be managed, invested, and distributed under the Secretary’s trust fund authority in 25 U.S.C. § 162a and the American Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act of 1994. It requires the Secretary to deposit into each fund the amounts made available under section 106(a) and makes the funds, including investment earnings, available beginning on the enforceability date, except that amounts in the Feasibility Studies Settlement Accounts and the Acomita Reservoir Works Trust Fund are available immediately upon deposit. It also authorizes each Pueblo to use up to $15 million from its Water Rights Settlement Account upon deposit for installing groundwater wells on Pueblo lands to meet immediate domestic, commercial, municipal, and industrial water needs, including associated environmental, cultural, and historical compliance.

This section provides mandatory appropriations totaling $849,000,000, subject to adjustment for construction cost fluctuations and inflation, to implement the Pueblo of Acoma and Pueblo of Laguna water rights settlements and related projects. It directs the Secretary of the Treasury to transfer $296,000,000 to the Pueblo of Acoma Water Rights Settlement Account, $14,000,000 to the Pueblo of Acoma Water Infrastructure Operations and Maintenance Account, and $1,750,000 to the Pueblo of Acoma Feasibility Studies Settlement Account; $464,000,000 to the Pueblo of Laguna Water Rights Settlement Account, $26,000,000 to the Pueblo of Laguna Water Infrastructure Operations and Maintenance Account, and $3,250,000 to the Pueblo of Laguna Feasibility Studies Settlement Account; and $45,000,000 to the Acomita Reservoir Works Trust Fund, with each amount available until expended, withdrawn, or reverted to the general fund of the Treasury. It further requires those appropriations to be increased or decreased based on ordinary cost changes under the Bureau of Reclamation Construction Cost Index-Composite Trend and to be adjusted for unforeseen market volatility and repricing, with the indexing period beginning on October 1, 2021, and ending when funds are deposited in the applicable Pueblo trust fund. It also requires the State, pursuant to the Agreement, to contribute $23,500,000, as adjusted for inflation, for the Joint Grants-Milan Project for Water Re-Use, Water Conservation and Augmentation of the Rio San José, the Village of Milan Projects Fund, and the City of Grants Projects Fund; $12,000,000, as adjusted for inflation, for Signatory Acequias Projects and Offset Projects for the Association of Community Ditches of the Rio San José; and $500,000, as adjusted for inflation, to mitigate impairment to non-Pueblo domestic and livestock groundwater rights resulting from new Pueblo water use.

This section establishes the enforceability date for the Agreement as the date the Secretary publishes a Federal Register statement of findings confirming that: (1) the Agreement has been amended to conform with this title to the extent it conflicts with this title; (2) the amended Agreement has been executed by all parties, including the United States; (3) all amounts appropriated under section 106 have been appropriated and deposited in the designated accounts of the Pueblo Trust Fund; (4) the State has provided the funding required under section 106(c)(3) into the appropriate funding accounts, provided the funding required under section 106(c)(1) and (2) into the appropriate funding accounts or entered into funding agreements with the intended beneficiaries, and enacted legislation to amend State law to allow a Pueblo Water Right to be leased for a term not to exceed 99 years, including renewals; (5) the Decree Court has approved the Agreement and entered a Partial Final Judgment and Decree; and (6) the waivers and releases under section 108 have been executed by the Pueblos and the Secretary.

This section requires the Pueblos and the United States, acting as trustee for the Pueblos, to waive and release specified claims relating to water rights in the Rio San José Stream System as consideration for recognition of the Pueblo Water Rights and other benefits in the Agreement and this title. The waiver covers: (1) water-rights claims asserted or that could have been asserted on or before the Enforceability Date, except to the extent those rights are recognized in the Agreement and this title; and (2) claims for damages, losses, or injuries to water rights, including claims for interference with, diversion of, or taking of water rights and related injury to land, against any party to the Agreement, including members and parciantes of Signatory Acequias, that accrued on or before the Enforceability Date. This section also requires the Pueblos to waive and release claims against the United States, including any agency or employee, that first arose before the Enforceability Date and relate to: (1) water-rights claims in the Rio San José Stream System that the United States could have asserted as trustee; (2) foregone benefits from non-Pueblo use of water on and off Pueblo land; (3) damage to water, water rights, land, or natural resources from loss of water rights, including claims involving hunting, fishing, gathering, or cultural rights; (4) failures to operate, maintain, or perform deferred maintenance on irrigation systems or projects; (5) failures to establish municipal, rural, or industrial water delivery systems on Pueblo land; (6) damages from the construction, operation, or management of irrigation projects, including impacts to fish, wildlife, and habitat; (7) failures to provide dam safety improvements; (8) litigation of claims relating to Pueblo water rights; and (9) the negotiation, execution, or adoption of the Agreement and this title. This section makes the waivers and releases effective on the Enforceability Date. This section preserves specified claims and rights notwithstanding the waivers, including: (1) enforcement of, or claims accruing after the Enforceability Date relating to, water rights recognized under the Agreement, this title, or the Partial Final Judgment and Decree entered in the Adjudication; (2) claims relating to water quality and environmental harms under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (Clean Water Act), and implementing regulations; (3) rights to use and protect water rights acquired after enactment; (4) damage to land or natural resources not caused by loss of water rights; (5) water-rights claims in basins other than the Rio San José Stream System, subject to specified exceptions for the Pueblo of Laguna in the Rio Puerco Basin and the Pueblo of Acoma in the Rio Salado Basin; (6) claims relating to the Jackpile-Paguate Uranium

This section provides that the benefits under this title fully replace, substitute for, and satisfy any claim of the Pueblos against the United States that is waived and released under section 108(b).

This section gives the United States, with each Pueblo’s consent, jurisdiction in the New Mexico state courts for judicial review of a Pueblo Water Right Permit decision, beginning on the Enforceability Date, and limits that review to actions filed in the Thirteenth Judicial District Court and any appeal to the New Mexico Court of Appeals or New Mexico Supreme Court. As background, a Pueblo Water Right Permit administrative proceeding under Article 11.4 of the Agreement governs permits involving Pueblo water rights. The section confines review to the administrative record and to whether the Pueblo’s decision is supported by substantial evidence, is not arbitrary, capricious, or contrary to law, is consistent with the Agreement and the Partial Final Judgment and Decree, or shows fraud or action outside the Pueblo’s authority. It also requires state courts to give full faith and credit to Pueblo Water Code or Pueblo Water Law provisions that satisfy Article 11 of the Agreement, directs state courts to certify questions of interpretation of nonexpress Pueblo law provisions to the Pueblo court, bars certification of questions interpreting Article 11.6 standards, and preserves the Decree Court’s jurisdiction to interpret and enforce the Agreement.

This section provides that the title does not waive the sovereign immunity of the United States, does not quantify or diminish any land or water right or claim of any Indian tribe, band, or community other than the Pueblos, and does not quantify or diminish any water right or claim of any allottee. It also preserves existing law, including regulations in effect on the day before enactment, regarding pre-enforcement review of Federal environmental enforcement actions, and specifies that this title controls in the event of a conflict between the Agreement and this title.

This section limits the Federal Government’s liability for failing to carry out any obligation or activity authorized by this title, including any obligation or activity under the Agreement, unless Congress expressly provides adequate appropriations to carry out the purposes of this title. (Thus, the title’s obligations and activities are contingent on specific congressional funding.)

This section establishes the purposes of the title, which are to achieve a fair, equitable, and final settlement of all claims to water rights in the Jemez River Stream System in New Mexico for the Pueblo of Jemez, the Pueblo of Zia, and the United States as trustee for those Pueblos; to authorize, ratify, and confirm the settlement agreement to the extent it is consistent with the title; to direct the Secretary to execute the agreement and take any other actions needed to carry it out; and to authorize the funds necessary to implement the agreement and the title.

This section defines key terms used throughout the title implementing the Jemez and Zia water rights settlement, including the “Adjudication” pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico, the “Agreement” dated May 11, 2022, the “Enforceability Date” described in section 207, the “Jemez River Stream System,” the “Partial Final Judgment and Decree,” the “Pueblo” and “Pueblos,” the “Pueblo Trust Fund” established under section 205(a), the “Pueblo Water Rights” identified in the Agreement and section 204 and confirmed by the court, the “Secretary” of the Interior, and the “State” of New Mexico and its officers, agents, departments, and political subdivisions.

This section ratifies and confirms the Agreement, as modified by the title, and authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to execute the Agreement and approve later modifications that are consistent with the title and do not otherwise require congressional approval under 25 U.S.C. 177 or other applicable federal law. It also requires the Secretary and the Pueblos to comply with the Endangered Species Act of 1973, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, and other applicable federal environmental laws and regulations in implementing the Agreement, and provides that the Secretary’s execution of the Agreement is not a major federal action under NEPA. Finally, it directs that compliance costs be paid from Pueblo Trust Funds, except for costs associated with federal approval or review and other inherently federal functions, which remain the Secretary’s responsibility.

This section establishes that the Pueblo Water Rights are to be held in trust by the United States on behalf of the Pueblos under the Agreement and this title, and it protects those rights from loss through non-use, forfeiture, abandonment, or other operation of law. It also provides that state-law based water rights acquired by a Pueblo, or by the United States on a Pueblo’s behalf, after the date for inclusion in the Partial Final Judgment and Decree may not be forfeited, abandoned, or permanently alienated from the time they are acquired. This section further authorizes the Pueblos to allocate, distribute, and lease the Pueblo Water Rights for use on Pueblo land without additional authorization, and for use off Pueblo land with the Secretary’s approval, in accordance with the Agreement, this title, and applicable federal law. It prohibits permanent alienation of any portion of the Pueblo Water Rights and specifies that authorization under this title satisfies any federal-law requirement for separate authorization of the allocation, distribution, leasing, or other arrangement. (Thus, non-use by any water user does not cause the loss of any portion of the Pueblo Water Rights.)

This section establishes the Pueblo of Jemez Settlement Trust Fund and the Pueblo of Zia Settlement Trust Fund, to be managed, invested, and distributed by the Secretary of the Interior under the Secretary’s trust fund authority in 25 U.S.C. 162a and the American Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 4001 et seq.). It requires the Secretary to deposit the amounts made available under section 206(a) into each fund and makes the funds, including investment earnings and interest, available to each Pueblo beginning on the Enforceability Date, subject to the section’s requirements. This section also reserves $25,000,000 of the amounts deposited in each Pueblo Trust Fund for specified water-related planning and infrastructure activities, including economic water development plans, environmental compliance documents, water project engineering designs, a water resource department, supplemental irrigation groundwater wells, and water measurement and reporting plans. It authorizes each Pueblo to withdraw funds through either a Tribal management plan or an expenditure plan approved by the Secretary, and requires that withdrawn amounts and any earnings be used only for the purposes set out in the title. It further authorizes the Secretary to take judicial and administrative action to enforce approved plans and limits judicial review to the Administrative Procedure Act.

This section provides $290,000,000 for deposit in the Pueblo of Jemez Settlement Trust Fund and $200,000,000 for deposit in the Pueblo of Zia Settlement Trust Fund, with both amounts available until expended, withdrawn, or reverted to the general fund of the Treasury. It also requires those amounts to be adjusted for ordinary construction cost fluctuations and unforeseen market volatility using the Bureau of Reclamation Construction Cost Index–Composite Trend and other Secretary-determined repricing methods, with the indexing period running from October 1, 2021, until the funds are deposited in the applicable Pueblo Trust Fund. In addition, this section requires the State to contribute (1) $3,400,000, as adjusted for inflation pursuant to the Agreement, to the San Ysidro Community Ditch Association for capital and operating expenses of the mutual benefit Augmentation Project, (2) $16,159,000, as adjusted for inflation pursuant to the Agreement, for Jemez River Basin Water Users Coalition acequia ditch improvements, and (3) $500,000, as adjusted for inflation, to mitigate impairment to non-Pueblo domestic and livestock groundwater rights resulting from new Pueblo water use.

This section establishes the enforceability date for the Agreement as the date the Secretary publishes a Federal Register finding that seven conditions have been satisfied, including amendment of the Agreement to conform with this title, execution by all parties including the United States, approval by the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico and entry of a Partial Final Judgment and Decree, deposit of all amounts appropriated under section 206 into the applicable Pueblo Trust Fund accounts, State provision of required funding under section 206(c)(1) and (2), State enactment of legislation allowing a Pueblo Water Right to be leased for a term of not to exceed 99 years, including renewals, and execution of the waivers and releases under section 208 by the Pueblos and the Secretary.

This section requires the Pueblos and the United States, acting as trustee for the Pueblos, to waive and release claims related to water rights in the Jemez River Stream System as consideration for recognition of the Pueblo Water Rights and other benefits in the Agreement and this title. The waiver covers: (1) water rights claims asserted or that could have been asserted on or before the Enforceability Date, except rights recognized in the Agreement and this title; and (2) claims for damages, losses, injuries, or interference with water rights, including related injury to land, against any party to the Agreement, including members and parciantes of signatory acequias, that accrued on or before the Enforceability Date. This section also requires each Pueblo to waive and release claims against the United States, including any agency or employee, for water rights within the Jemez River Stream System first arising before the Enforceability Date. Those claims include: (1) water rights claims the United States could have asserted as trustee, except rights recognized as Pueblo Water Rights; (2) foregone benefits from non-Pueblo use of water on and off Pueblo Land; (3) damage to water, land, or natural resources, including hunting, fishing, gathering, and cultural rights, from loss of water or water rights; (4) failures to establish a municipal, rural, or industrial water delivery system on Pueblo Land; (5) damage from construction, operation, or management of irrigation projects on Pueblo Land or Federal land; (6) failures to provide operation, maintenance, or deferred maintenance for irrigation systems or projects; (7) failures to provide dam safety improvements to dams on Pueblo Land; (8) litigation of Pueblo water-rights claims; and (9) negotiation, execution, or adoption of the Agreement and this title. This section makes the waivers and releases effective on the Enforceability Date. It also reserves specified claims and rights, including: (1) enforcement of, or post-Enforceability Date claims relating to, water rights recognized under the Agreement, this title, or the Partial Final Judgment and Decree in the Adjudication; (2) claims relating to water quality under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (Clean Water Act), and implementing regulations; (3) rights to use and protect water rights acquired after enactment; (4) damage to land or natural resources not caused by loss of water or water rights; (5) any rights, remedies, privileges, immunities, or powers not specifically waived; and (6) loss of water or water rights outside the Jemez River Stream System. This section further provides that nothing in the Agreement or this title reduces or extends any government’s sovereignty or civil or criminal jurisdiction, affects the United States’ ability to carry out activities authorized by law under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation

This section provides that the benefits under this title fully replace, substitute for, and satisfy any claims of the Pueblos against the United States that are waived and released under section 208(b).

This section provides that the title does not waive the sovereign immunity of the United States, does not quantify or diminish any land or water right or claim of any Indian Tribe, band, or community other than the Pueblos, and does not affect any provision of law or regulation in effect on the day before enactment regarding pre-enforcement review of any Federal environmental enforcement action. It also establishes that, in the event of a conflict between the Agreement and this title, this title controls.

This section limits the Federal Government’s liability for failing to carry out any obligation or activity authorized by this title, including any obligation or activity under the Agreement, unless Congress expressly provides adequate appropriations to carry out the purposes of this title. (Thus, the title’s obligations and activities are contingent on specific congressional funding.)