H.R. 6931 — Yavapai-Apache Nation Water Rights Settlement Act of 2025

This section designates the Act as the Yavapai-Apache Nation Water Rights Settlement Act of 2025 and provides a table of contents.

This section states the purposes of the Act, including (1) fully and finally resolving all water rights claims, including for damages, of the Yavapai-Apache Nation (excluding members as allottees) and the United States as trustee in the state, Verde River Watershed, and Colorado River; (2) authorizing, ratifying, and confirming the Yavapai-Apache Nation Water Rights Settlement Agreement to the extent consistent with the Act; (3) authorizing and directing the Secretary to execute and perform related duties; (4) authorizing necessary appropriations; and (5) recognizing the cultural, traditional, and religious value of the Verde River to the Yavapai (Yavepé) and Apache (Dilzhę́’é) and protecting existing flows, including flood flows, on the Yavapai-Apache Reservation.

This section defines terms used in the Act, including "Agreement," referring to the Yavapai-Apache Nation Water Rights Settlement Agreement dated June 26, 2024, and approved amendments; "Allottee," meaning an individual Indian or Indian tribe holding an undivided fractional beneficial interest in the Dinah Hood Allotment; and multiple terms related to the Central Arizona Project (CAP), such as "Available CAP Supply," "CAP Indian Priority Water," "CAP Repayment Contract," and "CAP Water."

This section ratifies and directs the Secretary to execute the Yavapai-Apache Nation Water Rights Settlement Agreement (as modified to be consistent with this Act), authorizes consistent amendments and modifications without requiring congressional approval under 25 U.S.C. 177 or other applicable federal law, and deems such execution not a major federal action under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). In implementing the agreement and this Act, the Secretary must comply with the Endangered Species Act of 1973, NEPA, and other applicable federal environmental laws; independently evaluate related documentation; and pay implementation costs from the Tú ńlį́į́níchoh Water Infrastructure Project Fund established under section 7(a) (except for inherently federal functions).

This section ratifies, confirms, and declares valid the water rights of the Yavapai-Apache Nation (YAN) as described in the Agreement, subject to the Agreement's terms and this Act (with this Act controlling in conflicts). It requires the United States to hold specified YAN water rights in trust—including those described in Agreement paragraphs 5.0, 6.0, 8.0, 9.0, and 11.0, plus rights appurtenant to after-acquired trust land and future severed and transferred rights—and protects those rights from forfeiture, abandonment, or loss through non-use. The section further (1) prohibits off-reservation sales, leases, transfers, or use of water rights described in Agreement subparagraph 4.1 (except for effluent per 4.15, YAN Central Arizona Project [CAP] water per 6.0, and state law exchanges); and (2) affirms YAN's rights to divert, use, and store YAN CAP water per the Agreement and section 14 of this Act.

This section directs the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Commissioner of Reclamation, to plan, design, and construct the Tú ńlį́į́níchoh Water Infrastructure Project, consisting of (1) the Cragin-Verde Pipeline Project and (2) the Yavapai-Apache Nation (YAN) Drinking Water System Project. (As background, these projects will deliver water from C.C. Cragin Dam and Reservoir to the Yavapai-Apache Nation pursuant to a settlement agreement, with the pipeline also serving certain Yavapai County water users as part of the Salt River Federal Reclamation Project—a Bureau of Reclamation project operated by the Salt River Project under a 1917 contract.) The Cragin-Verde Pipeline Project requires delivery of not less than 6,836.92 acre-feet per year to the YAN plus up to an additional 1,912.18 acre-feet per year to Yavapai County users; holds title in the United States; assigns care, operation, and maintenance responsibility to the Salt River Project upon substantial completion (with costs borne pro rata by YAN and other beneficiaries, not the Salt River Project); and permanently withdraws and reserves necessary National Forest System lands from entry, mining, and leasing for the project. The YAN Drinking Water System Project follows the July 2024 Yavapai-Apache Nation Drinking Water Infrastructure Plan (with possible design adjustments by mutual agreement if they meet requirements without increasing costs) and includes a surface water treatment facility capable of treating up to 2,250,000 gallons per day (with a peak of 3,000,000 gallons per day), pipelines, storage tanks, pump stations, transmission mains, and associated infrastructure.

This section establishes the Túńlį́į́níchoh Water Infrastructure Project Fund as a non-trust interest-bearing account managed by the Secretary of the Interior to fund projects under the Act, including two accounts: (1) the Cragin-Verde Pipeline Account, funded by amounts made available under section 10(a)(1)(A) and used to construct the Cragin-Verde Pipeline Project under section 6(b) (including environmental compliance under section 4(c)) and reimburse the Salt River Project for capital and operations and maintenance costs associated with water deliveries to the Yavapai-Apache Nation (YAN) from C.C. Cragin Dam and Reservoir; and (2) the YAN Drinking Water System Account, funded by amounts under section 10(a)(1)(B) and used to construct the YAN Drinking Water System Project under section 6(c) (including environmental compliance). Amounts in the accounts generally become available on the Enforceability Date of the settlement agreement, except that $13 million is available beforehand to the Bureau of Reclamation for environmental compliance and preliminary design of the overall project, contingent on revising and executing the agreement (including waivers under section 11). Investment earnings on unexpended amounts may be appropriated for the same uses; if project costs under section 6(b) or (c) are lower than authorized, savings deposit into the other account if needed for construction, with any remainder after the Date of Substantial Completion transferring within 60 days to the YAN Water Settlement Trust Fund under section 8 (allocated as directed by the YAN or, by default, to the Yavapai-Apache Water Projects Account).

This section establishes the Yavapai-Apache Nation Water Settlement Trust Fund, managed, invested, and distributed by the Secretary of the Interior consistent with the first section of the Act of June 24, 1938 (i.e., authorizing deposit and investment of tribal trust funds in banks), the American Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act of 1994, and this section. (As background, such trust funds implement congressional water rights settlements by providing federal funds for tribal water infrastructure, planning, and related projects.) The section requires the Secretary to create five accounts within the trust fund—(1) Water Settlement Implementation, (2) Water Projects, (3) Wastewater Projects, (4) OM&R (operations, maintenance, and replacement), and (5) Watershed Rehabilitation and Restoration—and deposit into each respective account the amounts made available under section 10(a)(2)(A)-(E); amounts (including investment earnings) become available to the Yavapai-Apache Nation on the settlement's enforceability date. The Yavapai-Apache Nation may withdraw funds via (1) an approved tribal management plan under the American Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act of 1994 or (2) an approved expenditure plan, with withdrawals limited to uses consistent with this Act and subject to Secretarial enforcement through judicial and administrative actions. Amounts in the Water Settlement Implementation Account may be used to pay tribal costs for permit applications under specified agreement paragraphs, planning and environmental compliance for the Cragin-Verde Pipeline Project, and water management planning.

This section directs the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), to continue maintaining and operating the existing USGS gaging station at the Yavapai-Apache Nation (YAN) Point of Compliance—identified as “Verde River Above Camp Verde - 09504950” in Exhibit 11.1B to the Agreement, within the Yavapai-Apache Reservation—for the purpose of monitoring the Nation’s instream flow right to the Verde River as described in paragraph 11.0 of the Agreement.

This section provides mandatory appropriations, to remain available until expended, withdrawn, or reverted to the Treasury, of $731,059,000 for the Cragin-Verde Pipeline Account and $152,490,000 for the YAN Drinking Water System Account of the Tú ńlį́į́níchoh Water Infrastructure Project Fund established under section 7(a), and $300,000 for the implementation account, $58,000,000 for the water projects account, $31,000,000 for the wastewater projects account, $66,000,000 for the operations, maintenance, and replacement (OM&R) account, and $700,000 for the watershed rehabilitation and restoration account of the Yavapai-Apache Nation Water Settlement Trust Fund established under section 8(a). The section adjusts these amounts up or down for ordinary cost fluctuations after January 1, 2024, as indicated by applicable Bureau of Reclamation Construction Cost Indexes (or Composite Trend Index for the trust fund), plus adjustments for unforeseen market volatility as determined by the Secretary, with the process repeating annually until completion of the project (for the project fund) or deposit (for the trust fund) and until the full adjusted amount is appropriated. Upon deposit of funds in the project fund, the section directs the Secretary to commence planning, design, environmental, cultural, and historical compliance activities necessary to implement the settlement agreement and this Act.

This section requires the Yavapai-Apache Nation (YAN), on behalf of itself and its members (but not as allottees), and the United States, acting as trustee for the YAN (but not as allottees), to execute waivers and releases—effective on the enforceability date and in the form specified in the settlement agreement—against the State of Arizona (or its agencies/political subdivisions) and other non-tribal parties for (1) all past, present, and future claims to water rights, including Colorado River water, for YAN land or based on aboriginal occupancy; (2) past and present claims for injury to such water rights through the enforceability date; (3) post-enforceability claims for injury to water rights for YAN land from off-reservation diversion or use not violating the agreement or state law; and (4) claims related to negotiation, execution, or approval of the agreement or this Act. The section preserves YAN and U.S. rights to assert claims to (1) enforce the agreement or this Act (per specified agreement terms); (2) enforce rights under certain Gila River Adjudication Court judgments, including the Verde River Decree; (3) water rights or injuries acquired pre-enforceability per the agreement; (4) challenge or object to other tribes' water claims; (5) injuries against other tribes or the United States on their behalf; and (6) post-enforceability injuries to YAN land from specified off-reservation surface water diversions or groundwater withdrawals (e.g., new wells in the Verde River Watershed above a designated USGS gage, excluding replacement wells, domestic/stock uses, or certain municipal uses). (Thus, the waivers resolve YAN's historical and ongoing water claims in the Verde River Watershed—part of Arizona's ongoing general stream adjudications—while protecting against future harms from unregulated post-settlement development.)

This section provides that benefits under the Agreement and this Act fully satisfy and replace all claims against the Agreement parties—including the United States—waived by the Yavapai-Apache Nation (YAN) on behalf of itself and its members (excluding members as allottees) pursuant to specified waivers in section 11 and the Agreement. It further states that water entitlements for YAN Land held by the YAN, its members (not as allottees), or the United States as trustee are satisfied by those benefits. The section preserves water rights of YAN members for land outside YAN Land (except as waived); does not quantify, diminish, or preclude claims to water rights for the Dinah Hood Allotment; and prohibits the YAN, as holder of a beneficial interest in the Dinah Hood Allotment, from objecting to water claims from the Verde River Watershed in the Gila River Adjudication Proceedings or other proceedings.

This section defines the Yavapai-Apache Reservation to include (1) lands within its exterior boundaries as depicted in specified exhibits to the Agreement; (2) lands added under subsection (b); (3) nine specified trust parcels identified in Exhibit 2.98A to the Agreement (i.e., Montezuma Parcels A-D (NF1-NF4), Lower Verde 260 Parcel (NF5), Upper 260 (NF6), and Middle Verde Parcels A-C (NF7-NF9)); and (4) lands added to the reservation under federal law as of the Agreement's enforceability date. It directs the Secretary of the Interior to accept title to and hold in trust for the Yavapai-Apache Nation, within 30 days of enactment, the parcels depicted in Exhibits 2.98A and 2.98B to the Agreement, consisting of (A) Otter Waters parcel; (B) Cemetery Property parcel; (C) Brown Property Parcels 1 and 2; (D) Distant Drums RV Park Parcels 1-3; (E) Sonic/Chevron Property Parcels 1-3; and (F) Arena del Loma Property Parcels 1-3—all located in Yavapai County, Arizona, as legally described by specified recorded instruments.

This section directs the Secretary to enter into the Yavapai-Apache Nation (YAN) Amended Central Arizona Project (CAP) Water Delivery Contract for permanent service (as defined in the Boulder Canyon Project Act) of YAN CAP water, effective on the enforceability date of the Yavapai-Apache Nation Water Rights Settlement Agreement and without term limit, with delivery through CAP or other authorized projects. (1) In times of shortage, YAN's CAP Indian priority water is computed per the YAN Amended CAP Repayment Contract; (2) YAN may permanently use the water on or off its reservation (not outside Arizona), store it per state law (and sell/transfer storage credits without approval), and—with Secretary approval—lease or exchange it (up to 100 years) in specified Arizona counties, without permanent alienation, with YAN retaining all proceeds and the United States having no monitoring obligations (except for trust-held funds); (3) CAP fixed operations, maintenance, and replacement (OM&R) charges are paid by the Secretary from the Lower Colorado River Basin Development Fund (43 U.S.C. 1543(f)(2)(A)) or by YAN if funds are unavailable, CAP pumping energy charges (if using CAP) are paid by YAN or lessees, and no property tax equivalency payments apply. (Thus, the contract implements YAN's water rights settlement by providing flexible use, leasing, and cost responsibilities while protecting federal fund availability.)

This section establishes the enforceability date for the Agreement—including waivers and releases of claims under section 11—upon the Secretary's publication in the Federal Register of findings confirming satisfaction of 13 conditions. Those conditions require, among other actions, (1) revisions and executions to resolve conflicts with this Act; (2) executions of specified waivers, releases, and retentions of claims by the Yavapai-Apache Nation (YAN), the United States, and other parties; (3) deposits of full amounts specified in section 10 (as adjusted) into the Cragin-Verde Pipeline Account and YAN Drinking Water System Account of the Tú ńlį́į́níchoh Water Infrastructure Project Fund, and into the Trust Fund; (4) conditional approvals by the Arizona Department of Water Resources of the severance and transfer from Salt River Project (SRP) of up to 3,410.26 acre-feet per year (maximum 3,977.92 acre-feet in any year) under Certificate of Water Right No. 3696.0002, plus changes to places of use and points of diversion on the Verde River; (5) inclusions and approvals by the Gila River Adjudication Court of the YAN Judgment substantially conforming to specified exhibits (some waivable by YAN); (6) the Secretary's final record of decision approving construction of the Tú ńlį́į́níchoh Water Infrastructure Project; (7) executions of water and sewer service and interconnection agreements with the Towns of Clarkdale and Camp Verde (waivable by YAN); and (8) YAN tribal council resolution consenting to limited sovereign immunity waiver under section 16(a)(3). If the Secretary fails to publish by June 30, 2035 (or later date agreed by YAN, the Secretary, and the state), this Act repeals except for section 13; prior actions void; the United States may offset section 10(a) funds against YAN claims; and section 10 appropriations (less section 7(e)(2) expenditures) revert to the Treasury.

This section establishes administrative provisions for the Act, including (1) a limited waiver of sovereign immunity for the Yavapai-Apache Nation and the United States as trustee, allowing them to be named as parties in specified actions in courts of competent jurisdiction relating to interpretation or enforcement of the Act, the Agreement, or related documents—without requests for monetary damages, court costs, or attorney fees against them (except under certain Yavapai-Apache Nation-Salt River Project agreements)—brought by Agreement parties, Gila River Watershed landowners, or water users; (2) an antideficiency provision stating that the United States is not liable for failing to carry out Act obligations absent express congressional appropriations; and (3) an exemption from acreage limitations and full-cost pricing under the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 (43 U.S.C. 390aa et seq.) and similar federal provisions for any individual, entity, or land based solely on receipt of Act benefits, execution or performance of the Agreement, or use, storage, delivery, lease, or exchange of Central Arizona Project water.

This section amends Section 213(i)(3) of the Gila River Indian Community Water Rights Settlement Act of 2004 (1) by renaming the Blue Ridge Reservoir to the C.C. Cragin Dam and Reservoir and (2) by authorizing up to 1,639.74 acre-feet per year of additional water from the C.C. Cragin Reservoir for municipal and domestic uses in Yavapai County, Arizona, at no cost to the Salt River Federal Reclamation Project (i.e., a Bureau of Reclamation project serving central Arizona) if users contract for it by December 31, 2029. It further states that nothing in the Act affects water rights of any Indian tribe other than the Yavapai-Apache Nation. Finally, this section directs the Forest Service to expeditiously transfer title to up to 40 acres of Forest Service land to the Town of Camp Verde, Arizona, at the intersection of Interstate 17 and General Crook Trail for public safety and municipal purposes.