H.R. 6205 — Taos Pueblo Indian Water Rights Settlement Amendments Act of 2025

This section revises the definitions in Section 503 of the Taos Pueblo Indian Water Rights Settlement Act by (1) removing from paragraph (1) the reference to the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration Local Government Division on behalf of an unspecified entity; (2) redesignating paragraphs (3) through (12) as paragraphs (4) through (14), respectively; (3) inserting new paragraph (3) to define "Mitigation Well System" as a system of wells, pipelines, and treatment infrastructure to offset surface water depletion effects to stream segments identified in Article 7.3.3.1.9 of the Settlement Agreement; and (4) inserting new paragraph (9) to define "Pueblo Trust Funds" as the Taos Pueblo Water Development Fund (established by Section 505(a)), the Taos Pueblo Groundwater Development Supplemental Trust Fund (established by Section 505(h)), and the Taos Pueblo Surface Water Sharing Supplemental Trust Fund (established by Section 505(i)).

This section revises Section 505 of the Taos Pueblo Indian Water Rights Settlement Act to retitle it "Pueblo Trust Funds" and expand its scope to encompass three funds managed by the Secretary of the Interior on behalf of the Taos Pueblo: (1) the existing Taos Pueblo Water Development Fund; (2) the new Taos Pueblo Groundwater Development Supplemental Trust Fund, to fund groundwater production, treatment, and delivery infrastructure consistent with the settlement agreement; and (3) the new Taos Pueblo Surface Water Sharing Supplemental Trust Fund, to fund surface water sharing infrastructure and gages to implement Article 8.2 of the settlement agreement. (As background, the 2010 act ratified a settlement resolving the Taos Pueblo's water rights claims in the Rio Pueblo de Taos watershed in New Mexico, with trust funds available for Pueblo water development after the Secretary approves a management plan and expenditure requests per subsection (e).) The section makes conforming terminology changes throughout (e.g., replacing "the Fund" with "the Pueblo Trust Funds"), updates investment authority to comply with the Trust Fund Reform Act, and includes a clerical amendment to the table of contents of the Claims Resolution Act of 2010.

This section amends subsection (b) of Section 507 of the Taos Pueblo Indian Water Rights Settlement Act (P.L. 111-291) to update cross-references to incorporate authorities under subsections (a) and (c) and section 509(k); and adds subsection (c) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Commissioner of Reclamation, to provide nonreimbursable grants, financial assistance agreements, or contracts from funds available under section 509(k) (i.e., the Taos Settlement Mutual-Benefit Projects Supplemental Fund) to eligible non-Pueblo entities (e.g., acequias and municipalities) to plan, permit, design, engineer, and construct mutual-benefit projects, including water treatment, that implement the Pueblo's water rights settlement by offsetting stream depletions. Eligibility requires application under prior subsection (a) within 90 days of enactment of the Taos Pueblo Indian Water Rights Settlement Amendments Act of 2025 and application under new subsection (c) within 180 days of enactment. Funding is subject to project-specific deadlines—10% expended within 3 years, substantial completion within 6 years, and full completion within 8 years for non-mitigation well system projects; or 15% expended within 3 years, substantial completion within 4 years, and full completion within 5 years for projects including part of the mitigation well system—with extensions available for good cause and termination plus repayment required for noncompliance. (Thus, the Commissioner may reallocate returned or undisbursed funds to other eligible entities, third parties (with Pueblo and state consent), or alternative or interim offset infrastructure off Pueblo lands if an entity fails eligibility, funding, construction start, or deadline requirements and sufficient section 509(k) funds remain.)

This section provides mandatory appropriations from the Treasury, as adjusted for construction cost changes since July 2025 using the Bureau of Reclamation Construction Cost Index-Composite Trend and for unforeseen market volatility as determined by the Secretary, of (1) $161 million for mutual-benefit projects (i.e., infrastructure benefiting the Taos Pueblo and non-Pueblo water users) pursuant to section 507(c) of the Taos Pueblo Indian Water Rights Settlement Act, to be deposited in the Taos Settlement Mutual-Benefit Projects Supplemental Fund; (2) $190 million for deposit in the Taos Pueblo Groundwater Development Supplemental Trust Fund established under section 505(h) of such Act; and (3) $16 million for deposit in the Taos Pueblo Surface Water Sharing Supplemental Trust Fund established under section 505(i) of such Act. (As background, the Taos Pueblo Indian Water Rights Settlement Act ratified an agreement resolving the Pueblo's federal reserved water rights claims in the Rio Pueblo de Taos watershed in New Mexico, authorizing federal funds for the Pueblo's water infrastructure, supply development, and related projects.)

This section provides disclaimers under the Taos Pueblo Indian Water Rights Settlement Act (P.L. 111-291), which ratified a settlement resolving the Pueblo's water rights claims in New Mexico and authorized federal funding for related infrastructure. Specifically, the section (1) preserves the prior satisfaction of conditions precedent under section 509(f)(2) of that Act and the validity of the Secretary of the Interior's finding of such satisfaction published in the Federal Register on October 7, 2016; and (2) clarifies that nothing in this Act, that Act, or the settlement agreement requires (A) amendment of the settlement agreement or partial final decree for the Secretary to carry out this Act, or (B) use of the project modification or failure process in Article 13.3 of the settlement agreement for alternative or interim offset infrastructure funded under section 507(c)(5) of that Act.