I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8920 
To approve the settlement of the water right claims of the Tule River 
Tribe, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 2, 2024 
Mr. FONG introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To approve the settlement of the water right claims of the 
Tule River Tribe, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Tule River Tribe Reserved Water Rights Settlement Act 
of 2024’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Purposes. 
Sec. 3. Definitions. 
Sec. 4. Ratification of 2007 Agreement. 
Sec. 5. Tribal Water Right. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
22:36 Aug 05, 2024
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6211
E:\BILLS\H8920.IH
H8920
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
Sec. 6. Tule River Tribe trust accounts. 
Sec. 7. Funding. 
Sec. 8. Transfer of land into trust. 
Sec. 9. Satisfaction of claims. 
Sec. 10. Waivers and releases of claims. 
Sec. 11. Enforceability Date. 
Sec. 12. Binding effect; judicial approval; enforceability. 
Sec. 13. Miscellaneous provisions. 
Sec. 14. Antideficiency. 
SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 
The purposes of this Act are— 
(1) to achieve a fair, equitable, and final settle-
ment of claims to water rights in the State of Cali-
fornia for— 
(A) the Tule River Tribe; and 
(B) the United States, acting as trustee 
for the Tribe; 
(2) to authorize, ratify, and confirm the 2007 
Agreement entered by the Tribe, the South Tule 
Independent Ditch Company, and the Tule River As-
sociation, to the extent that the 2007 Agreement is 
consistent with this Act; 
(3) to authorize and direct the Secretary— 
(A) to execute the 2007 Agreement, with 
amendments to facilitate implementation and 
approval of the 2007 Agreement; and 
(B) to take any other actions necessary to 
carry out the 2007 Agreement in accordance 
with this Act; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
22:36 Aug 05, 2024
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H8920.IH
H8920
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
(4) to authorize funds necessary for the imple-
mentation of the 2007 Agreement and this Act; and 
(5) to authorize the transfer of certain lands to 
the Tribe, to be held in trust. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—In this Act: 
(1) 2007 
AGREEMENT.—The term ‘‘2007 
Agreement’’ means— 
(A) the agreement dated November 21, 
2007, as amended on April 22, 2009, between 
the Tribe, the South Tule Independent Ditch 
Company, and the Tule River Association, and 
exhibits attached thereto; and 
(B) any amendment to the Agreement re-
ferred to in subparagraph (A) (including an 
amendment to any exhibit) that is executed in 
accordance with section 4(a)(2). 
(2) COURT.—The term ‘‘Court’’ means the 
United States District Court for the Eastern Dis-
trict of California, unless otherwise specified herein. 
(3) DIVERT; DIVERSION.—The terms ‘‘divert’’ 
and ‘‘diversion’’ mean to remove water from its nat-
ural course or location by means of a ditch, canal, 
flume, bypass, pipeline, conduit, well, pump, or other 
structure or device, or act of a person. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
22:36 Aug 05, 2024
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H8920.IH
H8920
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
(4) DOWNSTREAM
WATER
USERS.—The term 
‘‘Downstream Water Users’’ means— 
(A) the Tule River Association and its suc-
cessors and assigns; 
(B) the South Tule Independent Ditch 
Company and its successors and assigns; and 
(C) any and all other holders of water 
rights in the South Fork Tule River Basin. 
(5) ENFORCEABILITY DATE.—The term ‘‘En-
forceability Date’’ means the date described in sec-
tion 11. 
(6) OM&R.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘‘OM&R’’ 
means operation, maintenance, and replace-
ment. 
(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘OM&R’’ in-
cludes— 
(i) any recurring or ongoing activity 
relating to the day-to-day operation of a 
project; 
(ii) any activity relating to scheduled 
or unscheduled maintenance of a project; 
and 
(iii) any activity relating to repairing 
or replacing a feature of a project. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
22:36 Aug 05, 2024
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H8920.IH
H8920
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB