# Hualapai Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act of 2022

This bill settles a long-standing dispute over water rights for the Hualapai Indian Tribe, a Native American nation located in Arizona near the Grand Canyon. For decades, the tribe has been fighting to secure reliable access to water from the Colorado River, which is essential for drinking water, agriculture, and economic development on their reservation. This settlement finally gives the tribe official recognition of their water rights and provides them with a guaranteed amount of water they can use.

The agreement works by allocating a specific quantity of Colorado River water to the Hualapai Tribe that they can use for any purpose—whether that's supplying their communities, supporting farming, or developing businesses. The tribe also receives funding to build the infrastructure needed to actually access and use this water, like pipelines and treatment facilities. This is important because having water rights on paper doesn't help much if you don't have the physical systems in place to deliver the water to where people need it.

For the Hualapai people, this settlement means greater control over their own resources and improved quality of life. It allows them to plan for future growth and economic development without worrying about water shortages. The settlement also resolves legal uncertainty that had prevented the tribe from making long-term investments in their community. While this primarily affects the Hualapai Tribe and other parties involved in the water dispute, it's part of a broader pattern of the federal government finally honoring its obligations to Native American tribes regarding natural resources on their lands.

Hualapai Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act of 2022

Sinema, Kyrsten

Hualapai Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act of 2022 This bill modifies and ratifies the Hualapai Tribe water rights settlement agreement negotiated between the tribe, the United States, Arizona, and others, thus satisfying the tribe's claims for groundwater and surface water rights to water in Arizona, including the Verde River, the Bill Williams River, and the Colorado River. The bill outlines the tribe's water rights, including the right to divert, use, and store 4,000 acre-feet of agricultural priority water of the Central Arizona Project that was previously allocated to nontribal agricultural entities, but retained by the Department of the Interior for reallocation to tribes in Arizona pursuant to the Central Arizona Project Settlement Act of 2004. Amounts deposited in an established trust fund account shall be made available to the tribe for specified purposes, including to construct the Hualapai Water Project. The project must be designed to divert, treat, and convey up to 3,414 acre-feet of water per year from the Colorado River for municipal, commercial, and industrial uses on the Hualapai Reservation. The bill authorizes Interior to take specified land into trust for the benefit of the tribe. In the future, land located outside the reservation may only be taken into trust through an act of Congress. The bill outlines (1) waivers, releases, and retentions of claims by the tribe and the United States under the settlement agreement; and (2) a limited waiver of sovereign immunity by the United States and the tribe with respect to certain claims.