Approves a settlement of the Navajo Nation's water rights claims in New Mexico's Rio San Jose Stream System and provides about $223 million in federal funding to carry it out.

Official title: Navajo Nation Rio San José Stream System Water Rights Settlement Act of 2025

Next stop Senate floor: awaiting a vote

Timeline each lane is a chamber; dates pull from congress.gov actions

Senate

Introduced 13-FEB-2025

Referred 13-FEB-2025

Approved by committee 05-MAR-2025

Key points

Holds the Navajo Nation's water rights in trust with the United States and bars their loss through non-use or forfeiture.
Deposits $200,271,000 into a Navajo Nation water rights settlement account and $23,000,000 into an operations and maintenance account, both adjusted for construction cost changes.
Requires the State of New Mexico to contribute $3,000,000 to two local irrigation entities.
Expands the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project service area to Navajo communities in the Rio San Jose Basin.
Expires if the Secretary of the Interior does not publish the required enforceability findings by July 1, 2030.

AI-generated from the Introduced in Senate text of 13-FEB-2025 · verify · report an error

Official CRS summary

Current. The Congressional Research Service's summary covers the bill's latest wording (Introduced in Senate, 13-FEB-2025).

CRS is the Library of Congress's nonpartisan research office. Read it on congress.gov

Committee referrals (1)

Policy area

Native Americans

Sponsor Martin Heinrich (D-NM) Cosponsors · 1

■ 1 D

1 Democrat

congress.gov page Introduced in Senate (13-FEB-2025)