This bill approves and incorporates the Yavapai‑Apache Nation Water Rights Settlement Agreement into federal law, confirms the Nation’s water rights and places specified rights in Federal trust for the Nation. It directs the Secretary of the Interior (through Reclamation) to plan, design, and construct the Túnĺ nı́choh Water Infrastructure Project — a Cragin‑Verde pipeline to deliver water from C.C.
Cragin Reservoir and a Nation drinking water treatment/distribution system — and defines post‑construction operation and maintenance roles.
The bill creates two dedicated funding vehicles (a Project Fund and a separate Yavapai‑Apache Trust Fund) with multiple internal accounts to pay for construction, environmental compliance, watershed restoration, wastewater and O&M costs, and it requires the Nation and other parties to execute waivers and narrowly circumscribed retained claims. It also establishes an amended CAP water contract framework and rules for leasing, storage, and use of the Nation’s CAP entitlement.
At a Glance
What It Does
Ratifies the June 26, 2024 settlement agreement, directs the Secretary to execute and implement it, authorizes construction of the Cragin‑Verde pipeline and Nation drinking water system, and establishes federal accounts and a non‑trust settlement trust to finance construction, O&M, and watershed projects.
Who It Affects
Directly affects the Yavapai‑Apache Nation, the Bureau of Reclamation, Salt River Project (SRP) as eventual operator of pipeline infrastructure, CAP/CAWCD interests, Arizona Department of Water Resources, local Verde Valley water users and municipalities in Yavapai County, and holders of interests in the Dinah Hood allotment.
Why It Matters
It converts a negotiated tribal water settlement into Federal law and federal construction authority, creates a permanent CAP entitlement for the Nation with leasing rules, and funnels large mandatory federal dollars into basin infrastructure — setting a template for how Indian water settlements are implemented and financed.
More articles like this one.
A weekly email with all the latest developments on this topic.
What This Bill Actually Does
The bill takes the Yavapai‑Apache Nation’s settlement package and folds it into statute: the Secretary must ratify and sign the agreement (unless any part conflicts with the Act), then carry out the settlement duties, subject to environmental law. The settlement resolves the Nation’s claims to water in the Verde River watershed and provides a package of water supplies, infrastructure, and money in exchange for specified, broad releases of claims against the State and other parties, with narrow categories of retained rights spelled out in the agreement.
Implementation is built around two construction components bundled as the Túnĺ nı́choh Water Infrastructure Project. The federal government (Reclamation) will plan, design, and build the Cragin‑Verde transmission project to convey water from the federally‑owned C.C.
Cragin reservoir to delivery points on Nation land, and separately design and build a Nation drinking‑water treatment and distribution system. The Secretary holds title during construction; on a certificate of substantial completion the Nation will receive title to the drinking‑water system and SRP will assume operation of the pipeline under an existing SRP care/operation contract.Financing and administration are separated into a Project Fund used to build the two infrastructure pieces and a Yavapai‑Apache Nation Water Settlement Trust Fund that supports project implementation, future water and wastewater projects, O&M, and watershed restoration.
Funds are deposited into named accounts and become available only after the settlement becomes enforceable. The Secretary may make limited up‑front payments for environmental review and preliminary design, and the statute authorizes the Secretary to comply with ESA, NEPA, and other environmental laws while also assigning responsibility for environmental compliance costs to the Project Fund where appropriate.On water operations, the bill confirms that the Nation’s settlement water rights will be held in Federal trust and restricts off‑Reservation use of the settlement surface/groundwater rights (with specific exceptions for CAP water, effluent, and approved exchanges).
The statute establishes a framework for a Yavapai‑Apache Amended CAP Water Delivery Contract (permanent service, no permanent alienation of that CAP allocation, but leases/exchanges allowed), identifies who pays CAP fixed OM&R and pumping energy charges in typical and lease situations, and preserves limited retained claims and enforcement avenues for certain post‑settlement injuries or adjudicatory matters. Finally, the Act identifies near‑term trust land taken into Federal trust for the Nation and requires certain local intergovernmental agreements to be executed as preconditions to full enforceability.
The Five Things You Need to Know
Mandatory appropriations: the bill obligates federal transfers totaling roughly $1.04 billion to two construction accounts and five settlement trust accounts (including approximately $731 million for the Cragin‑Verde pipeline and $152.49 million for the Nation drinking‑water system).
Pre‑enforceability design money: $13 million may be used before the settlement is enforceable to fund environmental compliance and preliminary design, subject to certain executed agreement amendments and waivers.
Enforceability triggers: the settlement becomes enforceable only after the Secretary files a Federal Register finding that required state approvals, Gila River adjudication entries (including a Verde River decree and a Nation instream flow judgment where the Nation may waive some conditions), execution of releases, and full deposits into the Project and Trust Fund accounts have occurred; failure to meet those conditions by June 30, 2035 (unless extended by agreement) voids most of the Act and causes funds to revert.
YAN CAP water rules: the Nation’s CAP entitlement is structured as permanent CAP service; the Nation may lease or exchange CAP water with Secretary approval, leases are limited to 100 years (and may be renegotiated up to 100 years), and the statute bars any permanent alienation of the CAP allocation.
Operational handoffs and cost allocation: SRP assumes care, operation, and maintenance of the Cragin‑Verde Pipeline on the Date of Substantial Completion under the 1917 SRP contract; after that date beneficiaries (the Nation and other users receiving deliveries) bear O&M costs pro rata, while the Secretary covers O&M until substantial completion.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
Every bill we cover gets an analysis of its key sections.
Purposes and scope of the statute
This section defines the Act’s objectives: a full and final settlement of the Nation’s Verde River and Colorado River claims (on behalf of the Nation and trustee United States, excluding allottee‑capacity claims), ratification of the Agreement where consistent with the Act, direction to the Secretary to execute settlement obligations, authorization of appropriations, and explicit recognition of the cultural importance of the Verde River. Practically, it frames the bill as a single‑document implementation vehicle tying water rights, infrastructure, funding, and releases together.
Ratification, execution and environmental compliance
The Secretary must execute the settlement agreement to the extent it is consistent with this Act, and may approve modifications that do not require additional congressional action. The section requires the Secretary to comply with ESA, NEPA, and other environmental statutes in implementing the Agreement, and it authorizes the Secretary to evaluate and adopt environmental documentation prepared for the project while charging some eligible compliance costs to the Project Fund. Notably the statute also states that the Secretary’s signature on the Agreement does not automatically constitute a major Federal action under NEPA, although NEPA compliance itself is required — an unusual drafting choice that preserves environmental review without treating signature alone as the NEPA trigger.
Túnĺ nı́choh Water Infrastructure Project — project definition and roles
This section establishes the project components that Reclamation must plan, design and build: a conveyance (Cragin‑Verde pipeline) to deliver settlement water from C.C. Cragin Reservoir to delivery points on Nation land, and a Nation drinking water treatment/distribution system sized to accept the delivered supply. The statute sets design objectives (minimize O&M), places title with the United States during construction, and specifies that SRP will assume ongoing pipeline operation on substantial completion under longstanding SRP obligations. The provision also requires the Secretary to secure rights‑of‑way and allows withdrawal/reservation of National Forest lands needed for pipeline construction.
Túnĺ nı́choh Project Fund — structure and permitted uses
Creates a non‑trust, interest‑bearing Project Fund with separate accounts for the pipeline and the Nation drinking system. Deposits from mandatory transfers finance project construction, environmental compliance, and — for the pipeline account — reimbursement to SRP for proportionate Cragin capital and O&M costs tied to water delivered to the Nation. Funds are generally unavailable until the settlement is enforceable, except for a modest pre‑enforceability allocation for compliance and preliminary design work.
Yavapai‑Apache Nation Water Settlement Trust Fund
Establishes a trust fund with five internal accounts (implementation, water projects, wastewater projects, OM&R, watershed restoration). The Nation may withdraw funds under an approved tribal management plan (under the Indian trust management statute) or by Secretary‑approved expenditure plans; the Secretary retains enforcement authority to ensure funds are used consistent with the Act. The statute bars per‑capita distributions and requires annual expenditure reporting to the Secretary.
Waivers, releases and reserved claims
Requires the Nation and the United States as trustee to execute broad waivers and releases of past, present and future claims to water and damage claims against the State and others, in return for the settlement package — but the statute carefully carves out a number of retained rights (for example, enforcement of rights under the Agreement, rights to assert certain post‑settlement injuries, and challenges to other tribes’ claims). The United States separately executes comparable releases against the Nation on certain matters, and the Act preserves enforcement by parties in adjudicatory contexts and under health/safety/environment laws.
YAN CAP water — contract and use rules
Directs the Secretary to enter the Nation into an amended CAP delivery contract providing permanent CAP service for the Nation’s entitlement. The section permits the Nation to lease or exchange its CAP allocation (with Secretary approval), limits leases to 100 years, forbids permanent alienation of the CAP allocation, sets who pays CAP fixed OM&R and pumping energy charges in ordinary and lease situations, and clarifies that CAP construction costs allocable to the Nation are non‑reimbursable and excluded from CAWCD repayment obligations.
Enforceability date and fallback if conditions not met
The settlement becomes fully enforceable only after the Secretary issues a Federal Register finding that a set of conditions has been met — including execution of releases, required state agency conditional certifications, Gila River adjudication entries in forms conforming to the Agreement (with some waiver options for the Nation), and full deposit of the mandated funds into the Project and Trust Fund accounts. If those conditions are not met by a statutory deadline (June 30, 2035, unless the parties agree otherwise), the Act is mostly repealed, contracts are voided, and unused funds revert to Treasury — though land‑into‑trust provisions survive.
This bill is one of many.
Codify tracks hundreds of bills on Indigenous Affairs across all five countries.
Explore Indigenous Affairs in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Yavapai‑Apache Nation — obtains federal confirmation of settlement water rights held in trust, infrastructure (pipeline and drinking water system) that will provide treated surface water service on the Reservation, and a multi‑account trust for implementation, projects, wastewater, O&M, and watershed restoration.
- Municipalities and water users in the Verde Valley — gain authorized access to additional Cragin deliverability under narrow amendment language allowing up to a specified supplemental delivery to Yavapai County beneficiaries (subject to cost‑share and contract terms).
- SRP (Salt River Project) — gains title and operational responsibility for the Cragin‑Verde pipeline upon substantial completion, receiving reimbursement for proportionate Cragin capital and O&M costs as structured in the Project Fund and settlement exhibits.
Who Bears the Cost
- Yavapai‑Apache Nation — responsible for long‑term OM&R and energy costs after substantial completion (and for CAP pumping energy costs when CAP delivery is used), and for pro rata pipeline O&M with other beneficiaries; the Nation also must manage trust funds and meet preconditions for enforceability.
- Federal government / taxpayers — provide mandatory appropriations to fund construction and trust accounts and cover pre‑completion O&M and environmental compliance costs; if appropriations are not provided, obligations and implementation can fail.
- Local water users and municipalities contracting for additional Cragin deliveries — required to pay their proportional share of construction or drinking system expansion costs if they accept the amendments that provide extra deliverability (the statute conditions expanded capacity on cost sharing and executed contracts).
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central dilemma is between delivering a legally final, funded settlement now (which requires broad releases and federal appropriations) and protecting future flexibility to contest or adapt to hydrologic impacts (which requires retained claims, long‑term monitoring, and safeguards). The bill seeks both finality and protection, but the mechanisms to reconcile those goals — conditional approvals, narrow retained claims, and complex funding triggers — create execution risk and trade durable resolution against the possibility of future, unresolved local impacts and financial burdens on the Nation.
The bill trades legal finality for implementation risk. It requires the Nation, the United States, and other parties to execute broad releases but preserves a set of retained enforcement rights and adjudicatory claims; that balance may trigger litigation over the boundaries of retained claims, especially water injury claims tied to future well construction or surface water diversion determinations in the Gila adjudication.
Implementation also depends on a sequence of administrative and judicial actions — state conditional approvals, entries in the Gila River adjudication, and deposits of large federal transfers — with a relatively distant deadline. If those conditions are not satisfied by the statutory deadline, the statute largely sunsets and funds revert, which places significant political and administrative risk on a settlement that otherwise purports to be final.
Operationally, the Act places long‑term O&M burdens on the Nation and any other beneficiaries who accept deliveries after substantial completion while giving SRP operational control of the pipeline under longstanding federal‑era contracts. That handoff reduces Federal O&M obligations but exposes the Nation to multi‑decadal O&M, energy, and CAP pump charges and to the commercial terms of leases and exchanges it may enter — a heavy administrative and financial responsibility for tribal capacity.
At the same time, the statute carves out non‑reimbursability and repayment exceptions for CAP construction costs related to the Nation’s entitlement, which shifts a cost burden away from CAWCD and reimbursable CAP customers to taxpayers or the Nation depending on program choices.
Finally, the bill tries to thread environmental compliance and tribal priorities by requiring NEPA/ESA compliance while allowing certain pre‑enforceability planning funds and limiting the Secretary’s NEPA signature effect. That drafting raises open questions about the sequencing of compliance, the scope of remedies if a later action is challenged, and state‑federal interaction in water permitting and groundwater/surface water classification in the Verde Basin — areas where implementation choices will determine ecological and hydrologic outcomes more than the statute itself does.
Try it yourself.
Ask a question in plain English, or pick a topic below. Results in seconds.