S. 563 — Ohkay Owingeh Rio Chama Water Rights Settlement Act of 2025

This section designates the short title of the Act as the “Ohkay Owingeh Rio Chama Water Rights Settlement Act of 2025” and sets forth the table of contents.

This section states the purposes of the Act: (1) to achieve a fair, equitable, and final settlement of all claims to water rights in the Rio Chama Stream System in the state for Ohkay Owingeh and the United States acting as trustee for Ohkay Owingeh; (2) to authorize, ratify, and confirm the Agreement entered into by Ohkay Owingeh, the state, and various other parties to the extent consistent with this Act; (3) to authorize and direct the Secretary to execute the Agreement and take any other actions necessary to carry it out in accordance with this Act; and (4) to authorize funds necessary for implementation of the Agreement and this Act.

This section defines terms used throughout the Act, including “Adjudication” (i.e., the pending federal court general stream adjudication of water rights in the Rio Chama Stream System); “Agreement” (i.e., the Ohkay Owingeh Rio Chama Water Rights Settlement dated July 5, 2023, and any amendments consistent with the Act); “Ohkay Owingeh” and “Pueblo” (i.e., the federally recognized Indian nation); “Partial Final Judgment and Decree” (i.e., a court judgment confirming the Pueblo’s water rights as described in the Agreement); “Pueblo Water Rights” (i.e., the Pueblo’s water rights in the Rio Chama Stream System as identified in the Agreement and confirmed by the court); “Pueblo Land” (i.e., trust, owned, or acquired lands of the Pueblo within the Rio Chama Stream System); “Rio Chama Stream System” (i.e., the surface water drainage basin illustrated in the Agreement); and “Trust Fund” (i.e., the Ohkay Owingeh Water Rights Settlement Trust Fund established under section 6(a)).

This section ratifies an Agreement (as modified by this Act and to the extent not conflicting with it), authorizes the Secretary to execute the Agreement and approve consistent post-execution modifications not requiring congressional approval under 25 U.S.C. 177 (the statute generally prohibiting conveyances of Indian lands absent federal approval), and ratifies conforming amendments to the Agreement. The section further requires compliance with specified environmental laws (i.e., Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Policy Act, and others) in implementing the Agreement and Act—including Pueblo preparation of documents subject to Secretary review and evaluation, coordination with the Army Corps of Engineers on bosque restoration projects to avoid impacts on federal projects, and treatment of Agreement execution as non-major federal action under NEPA—and directs payment of associated costs from a Trust Fund (except for inherently federal functions, which remain the Secretary's responsibility).

This section declares the Pueblo Water Rights to be held in trust by the United States for Ohkay Owingeh; protects such rights—and any state-law based water rights subsequently acquired by the Pueblo or the United States on its behalf—from forfeiture, abandonment, or loss through non-use or other operation of law; and authorizes the Pueblo to allocate, distribute, and lease the rights for use on Pueblo land pursuant to the Agreement, this Act, and applicable federal law, including the Act of August 9, 1955 (commonly known as the "Long-Term Leasing Act"). The section further authorizes such uses off Pueblo land subject to the Secretary's approval, with leases not to exceed 99 years including renewals; prohibits permanent alienation of the rights; provides that related authorizations satisfy any federal law requirements; and reiterates protection from forfeiture due to non-use by any water user.

This section establishes the Ohkay Owingeh Water Rights 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 (25 U.S.C. 162a), the American Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 4001 et seq.), and the section's requirements. The trust fund consists of amounts deposited by the Secretary pursuant to section 7(a), plus investment earnings (including interest), and remains available until expended, withdrawn, or reverted to the Treasury general fund. Not more than $100 million of the amounts deposited, including investment earnings, is available immediately to Ohkay Owingeh for (1) Rio Chama bosque restoration and maintenance; (2) Pueblo contributions to senior acequia improvements; (3) establishing and operating the Pueblo's water rights management administrative department; (4) acquiring water rights; and (5) developing water infrastructure plans, environmental compliance documents, engineering, and construction; with the remainder available beginning on the enforceability date. Ohkay Owingeh 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 submitted to the Secretary, in either case limited to the following uses: planning, design, engineering, construction, reconstruction, replacement, rehabilitation, operation, or repair of water production, treatment, or delivery infrastructure (including domestic, municipal, or wastewater systems). The Secretary may enforce compliance through judicial or administrative actions, with judicial review limited to the Administrative Procedure Act.

This section provides a mandatory appropriation of $745 million from the Treasury to the Trust Fund, to remain available until expended, withdrawn, or reverted to the general fund of the Treasury. It directs adjustments to this amount for (1) ordinary cost fluctuations per the Bureau of Reclamation Construction Cost Index–Composite Trend, (2) construction cost changes due to unforeseen market volatility (as determined by the Secretary and including repricing for relevant construction types and industry standards), with indexing from June 1, 2023, to the deposit date and repetition until fully appropriated. It further requires the state to contribute, per the Agreement, (1) $98.5 million (inflation-adjusted) for Signatory Acequias ditch improvements and related purposes, (2) $32 million (inflation-adjusted) for City of Española water system improvement projects, and (3) $500,000 to an interest-bearing account to mitigate impairment to non-Pueblo domestic and livestock groundwater rights from new Pueblo water use.

This section establishes the enforceability date of the Act as the date on which the Secretary of the Interior publishes in the Federal Register a statement of findings certifying that (1) the Agreement has been amended to conform to the Act; (2) the amended Agreement has been executed by all parties, including the United States; (3) the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico has approved the Agreement and entered a partial final judgment and decree; (4) all amounts appropriated under section 7(a) have been deposited in the Trust Fund; (5) the State has provided specified funding under section 7(c)(1)-(3) or entered into funding agreements as applicable, deposited amounts under section 7(c)(3) into the appropriate account, and enacted legislation authorizing leases of Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo water rights for terms not to exceed 99 years (including renewals); and (6) the waivers and releases under section 9 have been executed by Ohkay Owingeh and the Secretary.

This section requires Ohkay Owingeh and the United States, acting as trustee for the Pueblo, to execute waivers and releases of all claims for water rights in the Rio Chama Stream System (a tributary of the Rio Grande in New Mexico) asserted or that could have been asserted in any proceeding, including the ongoing adjudication, on or before the enforceability date of the settlement agreement, as well as related damages, losses, or injuries accrued up to that date (except to the extent recognized in the agreement and this Act). Ohkay Owingeh must additionally waive all claims against the United States arising before the enforceability date from (1) foregone benefits from non-Pueblo water use; (2) damage, loss, or injury to water, water rights, land, or natural resources due to loss of water or water rights; (3) failure to establish or provide water delivery systems on Pueblo land; (4) damage from irrigation projects, failure to maintain irrigation systems or dams, or Abiquiu Dam operations; (5) litigation costs; (6) taking of bosque property; (7) failure to protect aboriginal water rights or develop irrigation resources (including Highline Canal, Chamita Ditch, and repurchasing lost lands); (8) non-Indian trespass on Pueblo lands; and (9) negotiation of the agreement and this Act. The waivers take effect on the enforceability date but retain Pueblo and U.S. claims for (1) enforcement of or post-enforceability accrual under recognized water rights; (2) water quality violations under specified federal environmental laws; (3) post-enactment water rights; (4) non-water-related damages to land or resources; (5) other unwaived rights; and (6) losses outside the Rio Chama Stream System.

This section provides that the benefits under this Act constitute complete replacement of, complete substitution for, and full satisfaction of any claims of Ohkay Owingeh against the United States that are waived and released pursuant to section 9(b).

This section includes miscellaneous provisions that (1) state nothing in the Act waives the sovereign immunity of the United States; (2) specify nothing in the Act quantifies or diminishes any land or water right, or claim or entitlement to land or water, of an Indian Tribe, band, pueblo, or community other than Ohkay Owingeh; (3) clarify the Act does not affect any provision of law (including regulations) in effect on the day before enactment with respect to pre-enforcement review of any Federal environmental enforcement action; (4) provide that, in the event of a conflict between the Agreement and the Act, the Act controls; and (5) require Ohkay Owingeh to hold and save the United States free from damages due to the construction or operation and maintenance of any bosque restoration or improvement project carried out by the Pueblo with funds appropriated under the Act.

This section provides an antideficiency protection, limiting U.S. liability for any failure to carry out obligations or activities authorized by this Act—including under the Agreement—if Congress does not expressly provide adequate appropriations.