Summary#
This Act approves and confirms a settlement agreement among the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians (the Tribe), the Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD), Desert Water Agency (DWA), and the United States. It confirms a Tribal Water Right held in trust for the Tribe and Allottees that allows the Tribe to produce and use up to 20,000 acre-feet per year of groundwater in the Indio Subbasin. The Act creates the Agua Caliente Settlement Trust Fund with four accounts for development projects, groundwater augmentation, water management, and operations/maintenance. It directs the Secretary of the Interior to execute the Agreement, requires environmental compliance, and sets conditions for an enforceability date. The Act transfers specific Federal lands into trust for the Tribe, allows sale of certain Federal facility land to CVWD for fair market value, and limits gaming eligibility on transferred lands. It also preempts certain state charges (the RAC) on the Tribal Water Right, authorizes Tribal water fees and a Tribal possessory interest tax to replace a Riverside County ad valorem tax on possessory interests, and requires specified distributions to other local agencies. As part of the settlement, the Tribe and the United States will waive many past water-related claims described in the Agreement, while retaining certain rights and remedies listed in the Act.
What it means for you#
- If you are a Tribal Member or Allottee: the Tribe will hold a confirmed water right in trust and may allocate water under tribal law. Allottees must use tribal processes first to seek irrigation water and may later seek relief under federal law if tribal remedies are exhausted.
- If you are a water user on the Reservation: Domestic water service can continue to be provided by CVWD or DWA under the Agreement, and the Tribe may set certain water fees or delivery charges for Reservation customers.
- If you are a local taxing entity or public agency: the Tribe may impose a Tribal possessory interest tax in place of the Riverside County ad valorem tax for affected possessory interests, and the Tribe must distribute amounts to other public agencies at least as much as they would have received under county tax rules, subject to limits described in the Act.
- If you are CVWD or DWA: the Act confirms the Agreement, may allow CVWD to buy specified facility land from the Federal Government, and includes waivers of past claims described in the Act once the enforceability date is met.
Expenses#
- The Act directs mandatory transfers from the Treasury into the Agua Caliente Settlement Trust Fund totaling $500,000,000, divided as: $300,000,000 for development projects, $100,000,000 for groundwater augmentation, $50,000,000 for water management, and $50,000,000 for operations, maintenance, and replacement.
- The Act allows adjustments for construction cost changes and indexing from May 19, 2025, until deposit.
- $50,000,000 of the development projects account is available immediately on deposit for initial implementation.
- The Tribe may withdraw funds under a Secretary-approved tribal management plan or approved expenditure plans; funds and investment earnings must be used for purposes in the Act.
- The Act requires the Secretary to confirm that all funds are in place as a condition of the enforceability date.
- Costs for environmental compliance related to the Agreement are to be paid from the Settlement Trust Fund, except for costs that are inherently federal responsibilities.
Proponents' View#
Proponents describe the Act's purposes as achieving a fair, final settlement of the Tribe's water claims in California, confirming and holding in trust the Tribe's water rights, providing funds to build and operate water projects and increase groundwater supplies, protecting Allottee interests, clarifying fee and tax arrangements on Reservation lands, and authorizing land transfers needed to carry out the Agreement. The Act is presented as providing certainty and resources to support water reliability for the Reservation and the Indio Subbasin.
Opponents' View#
No publicly available information.