Tule River Tribe Reserved Water Rights Settlement Act of 2025
Tule River Tribe Reserved Water Rights Settlement Act of 2025 is a bill to formally approve and implement a long-running water rights settlement in California. It ratifies the 2007 settlement agreement (with amendments) among the Tule River Tribe, the South Tule Independent Ditch Company, and the Tule River Association, and directs the Secretary of the Interior to carry out the agreement and related actions. The act creates a dedicated federal trust fund to finance water development and operation/maintenance (OM&R) of projects on the Tule River Reservation, and it transfers substantial parcels of land into trust for the Tribe to support water-related development. It confirms a Tribal Water Right to divert up to 5,828 acre-feet per year from the South Fork Tule River, to be held in trust for the Tribe, and it sets out governance, funding, and environmental compliance requirements to implement the settlement. In short, the bill aims to settle all water-right claims, provide federal support and funding for water projects, place key lands into trust for the Tribe, and establish a framework for managing and using the Tribal Water Right on the Tule River Reservation.
Key Points
- 1Ratification and implementation of the 2007 Agreement. The bill authorizes and ratifies the 2007 Agreement (with specified amendments) among the Tule River Tribe, the South Tule Independent Ditch Company, and the Tule River Association, enabling its implementation and any consistent amendments to facilitate execution.
- 2Confirmation and funding of the Tribal Water Right. The bill confirms the Tribe’s water right to divert and use up to 5,828 acre-feet per year from the South Fork Tule River, held in trust by the United States for the Tribe, and protected from loss due to non-use or other standard legal mechanisms. The Tribe has authority to allocate and distribute this water on the Tule River Reservation, subject to the Agreement and federal law; the right is non-alienable in perpetuity.
- 3Establishment of a Tule River Settlement Trust Fund and accounts. A federal trust fund is created to support the settlement, with two accounts:
- 4- Tule River Tribe Water Development Projects Account (for planning, design, and construction of water development projects on the Reservation).
- 5- Tule River Tribe OM&R Account (for operation, maintenance, and replacement of those projects).
- 6Substantial funding and cost-adjustment provisions. The Secretary of the Treasury must transfer $518 million to the Water Development Projects Account and $50 million to the OM&R Account (subject to adjustments for cost changes). There are built-in mechanisms to adjust funding for cost fluctuations via the Bureau of Reclamation Construction Cost Index and other market considerations, with the indexing process repeating for additional funding increments.
- 7Land transfers into trust to support the Reservation and water development. The bill outlines specific parcels of land (various Bureau of Land Management lands, Forest Service lands in the headwaters, and tribally owned fee lands) to be held in trust by the United States for the Tribe as part of the Tule River Reservation. These lands support the water development and protection of trust assets.
- 8Rules governing administration, use, and compliance. The Tribe may allocate and distribute the Tribal Water Right on the Reservation but may not permanently alienate portions of the right. The act requires environmental compliance under federal laws (Endangered Species Act, NEPA, etc.) and allows modifications to the Agreement as long as consistent with law. There are procedures for execution of the Agreement and for handling environmental assessments and reviews.
- 9Oversight, enforceability, and reporting. The Act provides for enforceability dates, binding effects, and judicial review processes limited to the Administrative Procedure Act (as applicable). It requires annual expenditure reporting by the Tribe on how funds are used.