I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3640

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

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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Torres-Martinez

5 Desert Cahuilla Indians Claims Settlement Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds and declares

8 that:
2

•HR 3640 IH

1 (1) In 1876, the Torres-Martinez Indian Res2 ervation was created, reserving a single, 640-acre

3 section of land in the Coachella Valley, California, at

4 the northern end of the Salton Sink. The Reserva5 tion was expanded in 1891 by Executive Order, pur6 suant to the Mission Indian Relief Act of 1891, add7 ing about 12,000 acres to the original 640-acre res8 ervation.

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

10 Colorado River filled the Salton Sink, creating the

11 Salton Sea, inundating approximately 2,000 acres of

12 the 1891 reservation lands.

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

14 9,000 of which were then submerged under the

15 Salton Sea, were added to the reservation under a

16 Secretarial Order issued pursuant to a 1907 amend17 ment of the Mission Indian Relief Act. Due to reced18 ing water levels in the Salton Sea through the proc19 ess of evaporation, at the time of the 1909 enlarge20 ment of the reservation, there were some expecta21 tions that the Salton Sea would recede within a pe22 riod of 25 years.

23 (4) Through the present day, the majority of

24 the lands added to the reservation in 1909 remain

25 inundated due in part to the flowage of natural run-
3

•HR 3640 IH

1 off and drainage water from the irrigation systems

2 of the Imperial, Coachella, and Mexicali Valleys into

3 the Salton Sea.

4 (5) In addition to those lands that are inun5 dated, there are also tribal and individual Indian

6 lands located on the perimeter of the Salton Sea

7 that are not currently irrigable due to lack of proper

8 drainage.

9 (6) In 1982, the United States brought an ac10 tion in trespass entitled ‘‘United States of America,

11 in its own right and on behalf of Torres-Martinez

12 Band of Mission Indians and the Allottees therein v.

13 The Imperial Irrigation District and Coachella Val14 ley Water District’’, Case No. 82–1790 K (M) (here15 after in this section referred to as the ‘‘U.S. Suit’’)

16 on behalf of the Torres-Martinez Indian Tribe and

17 affected Indian allottees against the two water dis18 tricts seeking damages related to the inundation of

19 tribal- and allottee-owned lands and injunctive relief

20 to prevent future discharge of water on such lands.

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

22 Court for the Southern District of California entered

23 a judgment in the U.S. Suit requiring the Coachella

24 Valley Water District to pay $212,908.41 in past

25 and future damages and the Imperial Irrigation Dis-
4

•HR 3640 IH

1 trict to pay $2,795,694.33 in past and future dam2 ages in lieu of the United States’ request for a per3 manent injunction against continued flooding of the

4 submerged lands.

5 (8) The United States, the Coachella Valley

6 Water District, and the Imperial Irrigation District

7 have filed notices of appeal with the United States

8 Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from the dis9 trict court’s judgment in the U.S. Suit (Numbers

10 93–55389, 93–55398, and 93–55402), and the

11 Tribe has filed a notice of appeal from the district

12 court’s denial of its motion to intervene as a matter

13 of right (No. 92–55129).

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

15 has stayed further action on the appeals pending the

16 outcome of settlement negotiations.

17 (10) In 1991, the Tribe brought its own law18 suit, Torres-Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians, et

19 al., v. Imperial Irrigation District, et al., Case No.

20 91–1670 J (LSP) (hereafter in this section referred

21 to as the ‘‘Indian Suit’’) in the United States Dis22 trict Court, Southern District of California, against

23 the two water districts, and amended the complaint

24 to include as a plaintiff, Mary Resvaloso, in her own
5

•HR 3640 IH

1 right, and as class representative of all other af2 fected Indian allotment owners.

3 (11) The Indian Suit has been stayed by the

4 District Court to facilitate settlement negotiations.

5 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to facili6 tate and implement the settlement agreement negotiated

7 and executed by the parties to the U.S. Suit and Indian

8 Suit for the purpose of resolving their conflicting claims

9 to their mutual satisfaction and in the public interest.

10 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

11 For the purposes of this Act:

12 (1) The term ‘‘Tribe’’ means the Torres-Mar13 tinez Desert Cahuilla Indians, a federally recognized

14 Indian tribe with a reservation located in Riverside

15 and Imperial Counties, California.

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

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

18 who have individual ownership of allotted Indian

19 trust lands within the Torres-Martinez Indian Res20 ervation.

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

22 body of water located in Riverside and Imperial

23 counties which serves as a drainage reservoir for

24 water from precipitation, natural runoff, irrigation
6

•HR 3640 IH

1 return flows, wastewater, floods, and other inflow

2 from within its watershed area.

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

4 the Agreement of Compromise and Settlement Con5 cerning Claims to Lands of the United States With6 in and on the Perimeter of the Salton Sea Drainage

7 Reservoir Held in Trust for the Torres-Martinez In8 dians executed on llllll.

9 (5) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

10 of the Interior.

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

12 means the perpetual right by the water districts to

13 use the described lands in the Salton Sink within

14 and below the minus 220-foot contour as a drainage

15 reservoir to receive and store water from their re16 spective water and drainage systems, including flood

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

18 water, operational spills and any other water which

19 overflows and floods such lands, originating from

20 lands within such water districts.

21 SEC. 4. RATIFICATION OF SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT.

22 The United States hereby approves, ratifies, and con23 firms the Settlement Agreement.
7

•HR 3640 IH

1 SEC. 5. SETTLEMENT FUNDS.

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF TRIBAL AND ALLOTTEES

3 SETTLEMENT 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’’,

10 respectively.

11 (2) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts held in the

12 Torres-Martinez Settlement Trust Funds Account,

13 the Torres-Martinez Allottees Settlement Account I,

14 and the Torres-Martinez Allottees Settlement Ac15 count II shall be available to the Secretary for dis16 tribution to the Tribe and affected allottees in ac17 cordance with 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

23 and deposited in the trust accounts in the amounts

24 determined by the tribal-allottee allocation provisions

25 of the Settlement Agreement.
8

•HR 3640 IH

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

10 Agreement, the Imperial Irrigation District shall pay

11 the sum of $3,670,694.33 to the United States for

12 the benefit of the Tribe and any affected allottees.

13 (4) CASH PAYMENTS BY THE UNITED

14 STATES.—Within the time and upon the conditions

15 specified in the Settlement Agreement, the United

16 States shall pay into the three separate tribal and

17 allottee trust fund accounts the total sum of

18 $10,200,000, of which sum—

19 (A) $4,200,000 shall be provided from

20 moneys appropriated by Congress under section

21 1304 of title 31, United States Code, the condi22 tions of which are deemed to have been met, in23 cluding those of section 2414 of title 28, United

24 States Code; and
9

•HR 3640 IH

1 (B) $6,000,000 shall be provided from

2 moneys appropriated by Congress for this spe3 cific 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

16 severally liable, but not jointly liable, for its respec17 tive obligation to make the payments specified by

18 this subsection.

19 (c) ADMINISTRATION OF SETTLEMENT TRUST

20 FUNDS.—The Secretary shall administer and distribute

21 funds held in the Torres-Martinez Settlement Trust

22 Funds Account, the Torres-Martinez Allottees Settlement

23 Account I, and the Torres-Martinez Allottees Settlement

24 Account II in accordance with the terms and conditions

25 of the Settlement Agreement.
10

•HR 3640 IH

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, condi9 tions, criteria, and procedures set forth in the Settle10 ment Agreement and this Act. Subject to such

11 terms, conditions, criteria, and procedures, all lands

12 purchased or otherwise acquired by the Tribe and

13 conveyed into trust status for the benefit of the

14 Tribe pursuant to the Settlement Agreement and

15 this Act shall be considered as if such lands were so

16 acquired in trust status in 1909 except as to water

17 rights as provided in subsection (c).

18 (2) PRIMARY ACQUISITION AREA.—(A) The pri19 mary area within which lands may be acquired pur20 suant to paragraph (1) are those certain lands lo21 cated in the Primary Acquisition Area, as defined in

22 the Settlement Agreement. The amount of acreage

23 that may be acquired from such area is 11,800 acres

24 less the number of acres acquired and conveyed into

25 trust by reason of paragraph (3).
11

•HR 3640 IH

1 (B) Lands may not be acquired under this

2 paragraph if by majority vote of the governing body

3 of the city within whose incorporated boundaries (as

4 such boundaries exist on the date of the Settlement

5 Agreement) objects to the Tribe’s request to convey

6 such lands into trust and notifies the Secretary of

7 such objection in writing within 60 days of receiving

8 a copy of the Tribe’s request in accordance with the

9 Settlement 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

20 whose incorporated boundaries the subject

21 lands 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,
12

•HR 3640 IH

1 formally objects to the Tribe’s request to convey

2 the subject lands into trust and notifies the

3 Secretary of such objection in writing within 60

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

5 in accordance with the Settlement Agreement.

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

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

8 the lands acquired pursuant to subsection (a)(1) as more

9 particularly 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

16 commence 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;

24 and
13

•HR 3640 IH

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

6 VALLEY 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

12 to 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

16 accordance with the terms and conditions of the Set17 tlement 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

23 lands (approximately 110,000 acres) located within

24 and below the minus 220-foot contour of the Salton
14

•HR 3640 IH

1 Sink, in accordance with the terms and conditions of

2 the Settlement Agreement.

3 (b) CONVEYANCE OF EASEMENT TO IMPERIAL IRRI4 GATION 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

10 and convey to the Imperial Irrigation District a per11 manent flowage easement as to all Indian trust

12 lands (approximately 11,800 acres) located within

13 and below the minus 220-foot contour of the Salton

14 Sink, in accordance with the terms and conditions of

15 the Settlement Agreement.

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

17 own right shall, notwithstanding any prior or

18 present reservation or withdrawal of land of any

19 kind, grant and convey to the Imperial Irrigation

20 District a permanent flowage easement as to all

21 Federal lands (approximately 110,000 acres) located

22 within and below the minus 220-foot contour of the

23 Salton Sink, in accordance with the terms and con24 ditions of the Settlement Agreement.
15

•HR 3640 IH

1 SEC. 8. SATISFACTION OF CLAIMS, WAIVERS, AND

2 RELEASES.

3 (a) SATISFACTION OF CLAIMS.—The benefits avail4 able to the Tribe and the allottees under the terms and

5 conditions of the Settlement Agreement and the provisions

6 of this Act shall constitute full and complete satisfaction

7 of the claims by the Tribe and the allottees arising from

8 or related to the inundation and lack of drainage of tribal

9 and allottee lands described in section 2 of this Act and

10 further defined 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

14 this Act.

15 SEC. 9. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.

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

17 Act or the Settlement Agreement shall affect the eligibility

18 of the Tribe or its members for any Federal program or

19 diminish the trust responsibility of the United States to

20 the Tribe and its members.

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

23 in the reduction or denial of any Federal services or pro24 grams to the Tribe or to members of the Tribe, to which

25 they are entitled or eligible because of their status as a

26 federally recognized Indian tribe or member of the Tribe.
16

•HR 3640 IH

1 (c) PRESERVATION OF EXISTING RIGHTS.—Except

2 for the rights specifically waived by this Act or the Settle3 ment Agreement, nothing in this Act shall affect or dimin4 ish any right to which the Tribe is entitled under existing

5 law.

6 (d) TAX TREATMENT.—None of the moneys paid to,

7 or any of the lands acquired and placed into trust for,

8 the Tribe or allottees under this Act shall be deemed to

9 be taxable under Federal or State law, nor shall such pay10 ments or transfers be taxable events.

11 (e) AMENDMENT OF SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT.—

12 The Settlement Agreement may be amended from time to

13 time in accordance with its terms and conditions.

14 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

15 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

16 as are necessary to carry out this Act.

17 SEC. 11. EFFECTIVE DATE.

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

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

20 of this Act.

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

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

23 determines the following conditions have been met:

24 (1) The Tribe agrees to the Settlement Agree25 ment and the provisions of this Act and executes the
17

•HR 3640 IH

1 releases and waivers required by the Settlement

2 Agreement and this Act.

3 (2) The Coachella Valley Water District agrees

4 to the Settlement Agreement and to the provisions

5 of this Act.

6 (3) The Imperial Irrigation District agrees to

7 the Settlement Agreement and to the provisions of

8 this Act.

Æ