39–010 

Calendar No. 536 

113TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 2d Session 113–246 

TO MAKE TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS TO THE NAVAJO 

WATER RIGHTS SETTLEMENT IN THE STATE OF NEW 

MEXICO, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES 

AUGUST 26, 2014.—Ordered to be printed 

Filed, under authority of the order of the Senate August 25 

(legislative day, August 21), 2014 

Mr. TESTER, from the Committee on Indian Affairs, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany S. 1447] 

The Committee on Indian Affairs, to which was referred the bill 

(S. 1447) to make technical corrections to certain Native American 

water rights settlements in the State of New Mexico, and for other 

purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon 

with an amendment and an amendment to the title and recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass. 

PURPOSE

The purpose of S. 1447 is to make technical corrections to the 

Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project, as established by the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, Public Law 111–11, 43 

U.S.C. 407 note. 

BACKGROUND

S. 1447 would make technical amendments to the Navajo-Gallup 

Water Supply Project, which was authorized in the Omnibus Public 

Land Management Act of 2009. The Act directed the Secretary of 

the Interior to design, construct, operate and maintain a water supply project that would provide water to the Navajo Nation, the 

Jicarilla Apache Nation, and the City of Gallup, New Mexico. The 

Act provided that the Navajo Nation would pay for any costs of operations and maintenance of the Project facilities that are allocable 


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to the Navajo Nation after a 10-year grace period that is triggered 

by the first delivery of project water. The original Act also allowed, 

in error, 2 percent and 4 percent of authorized funding to be used 

for cultural protection and fish and wildlife facilities, respectively. 

This original allocation was a reversal of the parties’ original intent. 

The Act also approved the water rights Settlement Agreement 

between the Navajo Nation, the United States, and the State of 

New Mexico. A separate Contract between the Navajo Nation and 

the United States was also incorporated as part of the Settlement 

Agreement. The Act also set forth certain deadlines that must be 

met regarding implementation of the Settlement Agreement and 

Contract, and, if those deadlines were not met, provided the stream 

adjudication court the authority to nullify the Settlement Agreement. The current statutory language also implies that the state 

stream adjudication court would have jurisdiction to nullify the 

Contract between the Navajo Nation and the United States, which 

was not the intent of the parties. 

Finally, the Act limited certain authorized funding to include 

only the construction or rehabilitation of certain wells. The Act did 

not include the necessary authorization for the planning or design 

of those projects. 

NEED FOR LEGISLATION

Clarifying ambiguities in the Omnibus Public Land Management 

Act of 2009 and aligning statutory provisions with the original intent of the stakeholders can only be accomplished by Congressional 

action. 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

S. 1447 was introduced on August 1, 2013, by Senator Tom Udall 

and Senator Martin Heinrich. The bill was referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs. On September 10, 2013, the Committee 

held a hearing on the bill. On June 11, 2014, the Committee met 

at a business meeting to consider the bill. Two amendments were 

offered, and the bill, as amended, was ordered to be reported favorably to the Senate. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1. Short title 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Navajo Water Settlement Technical 

Corrections Act.’’ 

Section 2. Navajo water settlement 

Sections 2(a) and 2(b) correct several misspellings and incorrect 

internal references within the Omnibus Public Land Management 

Act of 2009. Section 2(c) clarifies that the Nation can take delivery 

of non-project water but it is responsible for the associated operation and maintenance costs. Section 2(d) expands the current 

funding authorization for ‘‘construction and rehabilitation’’ to also 

expressly include the planning and design phases of construction 

and rehabilitation. Section 2(d) also fixes an error in the Act which 

prescribed, in error, 2 percent and 4 percent funding for cultural 

resource protection and fish and wildlife facilities, respectively. SecVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:38 Aug 28, 2014 Jkt 039010 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\SR246.XXX SR246

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tion 2(d) switches the percentage allocations to properly address 

the original intent of the parties. Finally, Section 2(e) clarifies that 

the Court presiding over the stream adjudication has jurisdiction 

to nullify the Water Rights Settlement Agreement, but not the contract supplying water to the parties. 

SUMMARY OF THE AMENDMENTS

Senator Udall of New Mexico filed two amendments to S. 1447. 

One amendment removed the provisions of the bill, as introduced, 

that would have made technical amendments to the Taos Pueblo 

Indian Water Rights Settlement Act and the Aamodt Litigation 

Settlement Act. This left S. 1447 as amending only portions of the 

existing Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project. The second amendment renamed the title of the bill to reflect this change. 

COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

The following cost estimate, as provided by the Congressional 

Budget Office, dated July 18, 2014, was prepared for S. 1447: 

JULY 18, 2014. 

Hon. JON TESTER, 

Chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs, 

U.S. Senate, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 1447, the New Mexico Navajo Water Settlements Technical Corrections Act. 

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased 

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Aurora Swanson. 

Sincerely, 

DOUGLAS W. ELMENDORF. 

Enclosure. 

S. 1447—New Mexico Navajo Water Settlement Technical Corrections Act 

S. 1447 would amend the Navajo Settlement Act to authorize the 

Bureau of Reclamation to participate in planning of groundwater 

well projects for the Navajo Nation in New Mexico. The bill also 

would clarify the intent of certain provisions of that act and shift 

some authorized spending among authorized activities. Based on 

information from the Bureau of Reclamation, CBO estimates that 

implementing the legislation would not affect the federal budget. 

Because enacting S. 1447 would not affect revenues or direct 

spending, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. 

Under current law, the bureau is authorized to construct and rehabilitate groundwater wells and related pipeline facilities to distribute groundwater for municipal use by the Navajo Nation. S. 

1447 would authorize the bureau to participate in the planning and 

design of those projects. Based on information from the bureau, 

those activities would be accommodated under the existing authorization ceiling for this project. 

The bill would clarify that the Navajo Nation can take delivery 

of non-project water but is responsible for the associated operation 

and maintenance costs. S. 1447 also would reallocate a portion of 

spending for fish and wildlife facilities to the preservation of arVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:38 Aug 28, 2014 Jkt 039010 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\SR246.XXX SR246

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chaeological resources near the project. Those changes would not 

affect federal spending. 

S. 1447 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Aurora Swanson. The 

estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

REGULATORY AND PAPERWORK IMPACT STATEMENT

Paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate requires each report accompanying a bill to evaluate the regulatory and paperwork impact that would be incurred in carrying 

out the bill. The Committee believes that S. 1447 will have a minimal impact on regulatory or paperwork requirements. 

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

The Committee has received no communications from the Executive Branch regarding S. 1447. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

On June 11, 2014, the Committee on Indian Affairs unanimously 

approved a motion by Chairman Tester to waive the Cordon rule. 

Thus, in the opinion of the committee, it is necessary to dispense 

with subsection 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate in order to expedite the business of the Senate. 

Æ 


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