Union Calendar No. 418

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3640

[Report No. 104–777]

A BILL

To provide for the settlement of issues and claims

Desert Cahuilla Indians, and for other purposes.related to the trust lands of the Torres-Martinez

SEPTEMBER 5, 1996

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Commitordered to be printed tee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and
IB

Union Calendar No. 418

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3640

[Report No. 104–777]

To provide for the settlement of issues and claims related to the trust

lands of the Torres-Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 13, 1996

Mr. BONO (for himself, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. BROWN of California, Mr.

CALVERT, and Mr. BURTON of Indiana) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on Resources

SEPTEMBER 5, 1996

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole

House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on June 13, 1996]

A BILL

To provide for the settlement of issues and claims related

to the trust lands of the Torres-Martinez Desert Cahuilla

Indians, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Torres-Martinez Desert

3 Cahuilla Indians Claims Settlement Act’’.

4 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

5 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds and declares that:

6 (1) In 1876, the Torres-Martinez Indian Res7 ervation was created, reserving a single, 640-acre sec8 tion of land in the Coachella Valley, California, north

9 of the Salton Sink. The Reservation was expanded in

10 1891 by Executive Order, pursuant to the Mission In11 dian Relief Act of 1891, adding about 12,000 acres to

12 the original 640-acre reservation.

13 (2) Between 1905 and 1907, flood waters of the

14 Colorado River filled the Salton Sink, creating the

15 Salton Sea, inundating approximately 2,000 acres of

16 the 1891 reservation lands.

17 (3) In 1909 an additional 12,000 acres of land,

18 9,000 of which were then submerged under the Salton

19 Sea, were added to the reservation under a Secretar20 ial Order issued pursuant to a 1907 amendment of

21 the Mission Indian Relief Act. Due to receding water

22 levels in the Salton Sea through the process of evapo23 ration, at the time of the 1909 enlargement of the res24 ervation, there were some expectations that the Salton

25 Sea would recede within a period of 25 years.
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1 (4) Through the present day, the majority of the

2 lands added to the reservation in 1909 remain inun3 dated due in part to the flowage of natural runoff and

4 drainage water from the irrigation systems of the Im5 perial, Coachella, and Mexicali Valleys into the

6 Salton Sea.

7 (5) In addition to those lands that are inun8 dated, there are also tribal and individual Indian

9 lands located on the perimeter of the Salton Sea that

10 are not currently irrigable due to lack of proper

11 drainage.

12 (6) In 1982, the United States brought an action

13 in trespass entitled ‘‘United States of America, in its

14 own right and on behalf of Torres-Martinez Band of

15 Mission Indians and the Allottees therein v. The Im16 perial Irrigation District and Coachella Valley Water

17 District’’, Case No. 82–1790 K (M) (hereafter in this

18 section referred to as the ‘‘U.S. Suit’’) on behalf of the

19 Torres-Martinez Indian Tribe and affected Indian

20 allottees against the two water districts seeking dam21 ages related to the inundation of tribal- and allottee22 owned lands and injunctive relief to prevent future

23 discharge of water on such lands.

24 (7) On August 20, 1992, the Federal District

25 Court for the Southern District of California entered
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1 a judgment in the U.S. Suit requiring the Coachella

2 Valley Water District to pay $212,908.41 in past and

3 future damages and the Imperial Irrigation District

4 to pay $2,795,694.33 in past and future damages in

5 lieu of the United States’ request for a permanent in6 junction against continued flooding of the submerged

7 lands.

8 (8) The United States, the Coachella Valley

9 Water District, and the Imperial Irrigation District

10 have filed notices of appeal with the United States

11 Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from the dis12 trict court’s judgment in the U.S. Suit (Numbers 93–

13 55389, 93–55398, and 93–55402), and the Tribe has

14 filed a notice of appeal from the district court’s denial

15 of its motion to intervene as a matter of right (No.

16 92–55129).

17 (9) The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

18 has stayed further action on the appeals pending the

19 outcome of settlement negotiations.

20 (10) In 1991, the Tribe brought its own lawsuit,

21 Torres-Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians, et al., v.

22 Imperial Irrigation District, et al., Case No. 91–1670

23 J (LSP) (hereafter in this section referred to as the

24 ‘‘Indian Suit’’) in the United States District Court,

25 Southern District of California, against the two water
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1 districts, and amended the complaint to include as

2 a plaintiff, Mary Resvaloso, in her own right, and

3 as class representative of all other affected Indian al4 lotment owners.

5 (11) The Indian Suit has been stayed by the Dis6 trict Court to facilitate settlement negotiations.

7 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to facilitate

8 and implement the settlement agreement negotiated and ex9 ecuted by the parties to the U.S. Suit and Indian Suit for

10 the purpose of resolving their conflicting claims to their mu11 tual satisfaction and in the public interest.

12 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

13 For the purposes of this Act:

14 (1) The term ‘‘Tribe’’ means the Torres-Martinez

15 Desert Cahuilla Indians, a federally recognized In16 dian tribe with a reservation located in Riverside and

17 Imperial Counties, California.

18 (2) The term ‘‘allottees’’ means those individual

19 Tribe members, their successors, heirs, and assigns,

20 who have individual ownership of allotted Indian

21 trust lands within the Torres-Martinez Indian Res22 ervation.

23 (3) The term ‘‘Salton Sea’’ means the inland

24 body of water located in Riverside and Imperial

25 counties which serves as a drainage reservoir for
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1 water from precipitation, natural runoff, irrigation

2 return flows, wastewater, floods, and other inflow

3 from within its watershed area.

4 (4) The term ‘‘Settlement Agreement’’ means the

5 Agreement of Compromise and Settlement Concerning

6 Claims to Lands of the United States Within and on

7 the Perimeter of the Salton Sea Drainage Reservoir

8 Held in Trust for the Torres-Martinez Indians exe9 cuted on June 18, 1996.

10 (5) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of

11 the Interior.

12 (6) The term ‘‘permanent flowage easement’’

13 means the perpetual right by the water districts to

14 use the described lands in the Salton Sink within and

15 below the minus 220-foot contour as a drainage res16 ervoir to receive and store water from their respective

17 water and drainage systems, including flood water,

18 return flows from irrigation, tail water, leach water,

19 operational spills and any other water which over20 flows and floods such lands, originating from lands

21 within such water districts.

22 SEC. 4. RATIFICATION OF SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT.

23 The United States hereby approves, ratifies, and con24 firms the Settlement Agreement.
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1 SEC. 5. SETTLEMENT FUNDS.

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF TRIBAL AND ALLOTTEES SET3 TLEMENT TRUST FUNDS ACCOUNTS.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are established in the

5 Treasury of the United States three settlement trust

6 fund accounts to be known as the ‘‘Torres-Martinez

7 Settlement Trust Funds Account’’, the ‘‘Torres-Mar8 tinez Allottees Settlement Account I’’, and the

9 ‘‘Torres-Martinez Allottees Settlement Account II’’, re10 spectively.

11 (2) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts held in the Torres12 Martinez Settlement Trust Funds Account, the

13 Torres-Martinez Allottees Settlement Account I, and

14 the Torres-Martinez Allottees Settlement Account II

15 shall be available to the Secretary for distribution to

16 the Tribe and affected allottees in accordance with

17 subsection (c).

18 (b) CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE SETTLEMENT TRUST

19 FUNDS.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Amounts paid to the Sec21 retary for deposit into the trust fund accounts estab22 lished by subsection (a) shall be allocated among and

23 deposited in the trust accounts in the amounts deter24 mined by the tribal-allottee allocation provisions of

25 the Settlement Agreement.
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1 (2) CASH PAYMENTS BY COACHELLA VALLEY

2 WATER DISTRICT.—Within the time, in the manner,

3 and upon the conditions specified in the Settlement

4 Agreement, the Coachella Valley Water District shall

5 pay the sum of $337,908.41 to the United States for

6 the benefit of the Tribe and any affected allottees.

7 (3) CASH PAYMENTS BY IMPERIAL IRRIGATION

8 DISTRICT.—Within the time, in the manner, and

9 upon the conditions specified in the Settlement Agree10 ment, the Imperial Irrigation District shall pay the

11 sum of $3,670,694.33 to the United States for the ben12 efit of the Tribe and any affected allottees.

13 (4) CASH PAYMENTS BY THE UNITED STATES.—

14 Within the time and upon the conditions specified in

15 the Settlement Agreement, the United States shall pay

16 into the three separate tribal and allottee trust fund

17 accounts the total sum of $10,200,000, of which

18 sum—

19 (A) $4,200,000 shall be provided from mon20 eys appropriated by Congress under section 1304

21 of title 31, United States Code, the conditions of

22 which are deemed to have been met, including

23 those of section 2414 of title 28, United States

24 Code; and
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1 (B) $6,000,000 shall be provided from mon2 eys appropriated by Congress for this specific

3 purpose to the Secretary.

4 (5) ADDITIONAL PAYMENTS.—In the event that

5 any of the sums described in paragraphs (2) or (3)

6 are not timely paid by the Coachella Valley Water

7 District or the Imperial Irrigation District, as the

8 case may be, the delinquent payor shall pay an addi9 tional sum equal to 10 percent interest annually on

10 the amount outstanding daily, compounded yearly on

11 December 31 of each respective year, until all out12 standing amounts due have been paid in full.

13 (6) SEVERALLY LIABLE FOR PAYMENTS.—The

14 Coachella Valley Water District, the Imperial Irriga15 tion District, and the United States shall each be sev16 erally liable, but not jointly liable, for its respective

17 obligation to make the payments specified by this sub18 section.

19 (c) ADMINISTRATION OF SETTLEMENT TRUST

20 FUNDS.—The Secretary shall administer and distribute

21 funds held in the Torres-Martinez Settlement Trust Funds

22 Account, the Torres-Martinez Allottees Settlement Account

23 I, and the Torres-Martinez Allottees Settlement Account II

24 in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Settle25 ment Agreement.
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1 SEC. 6. TRUST LAND ACQUISITION AND STATUS.

2 (a) ACQUISITION AND PLACEMENT OF LANDS INTO

3 TRUST.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall convey

5 into trust status lands purchased or otherwise ac6 quired by the Tribe within the areas described in

7 paragraphs (2) and (3) in an amount not to exceed

8 11,800 acres in accordance with the terms, conditions,

9 criteria, and procedures set forth in the Settlement

10 Agreement and this Act. Subject to such terms, condi11 tions, criteria, and procedures, all lands purchased or

12 otherwise acquired by the Tribe and conveyed into

13 trust status for the benefit of the Tribe pursuant to

14 the Settlement Agreement and this Act shall be con15 sidered as if such lands were so acquired in trust sta16 tus in 1909 except as (i) to water rights as provided

17 in subsection (c), and (ii) to valid rights existing at

18 the time of acquisition pursuant to this Act.

19 (2) PRIMARY ACQUISITION AREA.—(A) The pri20 mary area within which lands may be acquired pur21 suant to paragraph (1) are those certain lands located

22 in the Primary Acquisition Area, as defined in the

23 Settlement Agreement. The amount of acreage that

24 may be acquired from such area is 11,800 acres less

25 the number of acres acquired and conveyed into trust

26 by reason of paragraph (3).
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1 (B) Lands may not be acquired under this para2 graph if by majority vote of the governing body of the

3 city within whose incorporated boundaries (as such

4 boundaries exist on the date of the Settlement Agree5 ment) objects to the Tribe’s request to convey such

6 lands into trust and notifies the Secretary of such ob7 jection in writing within 60 days of receiving a copy

8 of the Tribe’s request in accordance with the Settle9 ment Agreement.

10 (3) SECONDARY ACQUISITION AREA.—

11 (A) Not more than 640 acres of land may

12 be acquired pursuant to paragraph (1) from

13 those certain lands located in the Secondary Ac14 quisition Area, as defined in the Settlement

15 Agreement.

16 (B) Lands referred to in subparagraph (A)

17 may not be acquired pursuant to paragraph (1)

18 if by majority vote—

19 (i) the governing body of the city whose

20 incorporated boundaries the subject lands

21 are situated within, or

22 (ii) the governing body of Riverside

23 County, California, in the event that such

24 lands are located within an unincorporated

25 area,
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1 formally objects to the Tribe’s request to convey

2 the subject lands into trust and notifies the Sec3 retary of such objection in writing within 60

4 days of receiving a copy of the Tribe’s request in

5 accordance with the Settlement Agreement.

6 (b) RESTRICTIONS ON GAMING.—The Tribe shall have

7 the right to conduct gaming on only one site within the

8 lands acquired pursuant to subsection (a)(1) as more par9 ticularly provided in the Settlement Agreement.

10 (c) WATER RIGHTS.—All lands acquired by the Tribe

11 under subsection (a) shall—

12 (1) be subject to all valid water rights existing

13 at the time of tribal acquisition, including (but not

14 limited to) all rights under any permit or license is15 sued under the laws of the State of California to com16 mence an appropriation of water, to appropriate

17 water, or to increase the amount of water appro18 priated;

19 (2) be subject to the paramount rights of any

20 person who at any time recharges or stores water in

21 a ground water basin to recapture or recover the re22 charged or stored water or to authorize others to re23 capture or recover the recharged or stored water; and
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1 (3) continue to enjoy all valid water rights ap2 purtenant to the land existing immediately prior to

3 the time of tribal acquisition.

4 SEC. 7. PERMANENT FLOWAGE EASEMENTS.

5 (a) CONVEYANCE OF EASEMENT TO COACHELLA VAL6 LEY WATER DISTRICT.—

7 (1) TRIBAL INTEREST.—The United States, in

8 its capacity as trustee for the Tribe, as well as for

9 any affected Indian allotment owners, and their suc10 cessors and assigns, and the Tribe in its own right

11 and that of its successors and assigns, shall convey to

12 the Coachella Valley Water District a permanent

13 flowage easement as to all Indian trust lands (ap14 proximately 11,800 acres) located within and below

15 the minus 220-foot contour of the Salton Sink, in ac16 cordance with the terms and conditions of the Settle17 ment Agreement.

18 (2) UNITED STATES INTEREST.—The United

19 States, in its own right shall, notwithstanding any

20 prior or present reservation or withdrawal of land of

21 any kind, convey to Coachella Valley Water District

22 a permanent flowage easement as to all Federal lands

23 (approximately 110,000 acres) located within and

24 below the minus 220-foot contour of the Salton Sink,
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1 in accordance with the terms and conditions of the

2 Settlement Agreement.

3 (b) CONVEYANCE OF EASEMENT TO IMPERIAL IRRIGA4 TION DISTRICT.—

5 (1) TRIBAL INTEREST.—The United States, in

6 its capacity as trustee for the Tribe, as well as for

7 any affected Indian allotment owners, and their suc8 cessors and assigns, and the Tribe in its own right

9 and that of its successors and assigns, shall grant and

10 convey to the Imperial Irrigation District a perma11 nent flowage easement as to all Indian trust lands

12 (approximately 11,800 acres) located within and

13 below the minus 220-foot contour of the Salton Sink,

14 in accordance with the terms and conditions of the

15 Settlement Agreement.

16 (2) UNITED STATES.—The United States, in its

17 own right shall, notwithstanding any prior or present

18 reservation or withdrawal of land of any kind, grant

19 and convey to the Imperial Irrigation District a per20 manent flowage easement as to all Federal lands (ap21 proximately 110,000 acres) located within and below

22 the minus 220-foot contour of the Salton Sink, in ac23 cordance with the terms and conditions of the Settle24 ment Agreement.
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1 SEC. 8. SATISFACTION OF CLAIMS, WAIVERS, AND

2 RELEASES.

3 (a) SATISFACTION OF CLAIMS.—The benefits available

4 to the Tribe and the allottees under the terms and condi5 tions of the Settlement Agreement and the provisions of this

6 Act shall constitute full and complete satisfaction of the

7 claims by the Tribe and the allottees arising from or related

8 to the inundation and lack of drainage of tribal and allottee

9 lands described in section 2 of this Act and further defined

10 in the Settlement Agreement.

11 (b) APPROVAL OF WAIVERS AND RELEASES.—The

12 United States hereby approves and confirms the releases

13 and waivers required by the Settlement Agreement and this

14 Act.

15 SEC. 9. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.

16 (a) ELIGIBILITY FOR BENEFITS.—Nothing in this Act

17 or the Settlement Agreement shall affect the eligibility of

18 the Tribe or its members for any Federal program or dimin19 ish the trust responsibility of the United States to the Tribe

20 and its members.

21 (b) ELIGIBILITY FOR OTHER SERVICES NOT AF22 FECTED.—No payment pursuant to this Act shall result in

23 the reduction or denial of any Federal services or programs

24 to the Tribe or to members of the Tribe, to which they are

25 entitled or eligible because of their status as a federally rec26 ognized Indian tribe or member of the Tribe.
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1 (c) PRESERVATION OF EXISTING RIGHTS.—Except as

2 provided in this Act or the Settlement Agreement, any right

3 to which the Tribe is entitled under existing law shall not

4 be affected or diminished.

5 (d) AMENDMENT OF SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT.—The

6 Settlement Agreement may be amended from time to time

7 in accordance with its terms and conditions.

8 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

9 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as

10 are necessary to carry out this Act.

11 SEC. 11. EFFECTIVE DATE.

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided by subsection

13 (b), this Act shall take effect on the date of enactment of

14 this Act.

15 (b) EXCEPTION.—Sections 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 shall take

16 effect on the date on which the Secretary of the Interior

17 determines the following conditions have been met:

18 (1) The Tribe agrees to the Settlement Agreement

19 and the provisions of this Act and executes the re20 leases and waivers required by the Settlement Agree21 ment and this Act.

22 (2) The Coachella Valley Water District agrees to

23 the Settlement Agreement and to the provisions of this

24 Act.
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1 (3) The Imperial Irrigation District agrees to the

2 Settlement Agreement and to the provisions of this

3 Act.