Luján, Heinrich introduce legislation to boost funding for Indian water rights settlements
Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) introduced the Protecting Indian Water Rights Settlements Act of 2026, legislation to ensure the federal government fulfills its trust responsibilities by providing dedicated, mandatory funding for Indian water rights settlements through the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Indian Water Rights Settlement Completion Fund. … While the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law established the Indian Water Rights Settlement Completion Fund to support settlements authorized before November 2021, there is currently no guaranteed funding source for agreements enacted after that date. The Protecting Indian Water Rights Settlements Act of 2026 addresses this gap by amending the existing fund to provide $2.95 billion in mandatory funding over ten years for both already enacted and future settlements.
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