I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 495
To approve the settlement of the water rights claims of the Zuni Indian 
Tribe in Apache County, Arizona, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 29, 2003
Mr. RENZI (for himself, Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr. PASTOR, Mr. GRIJALVA, and 
Mr. KOLBE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Resources 
A BILL 
To approve the settlement of the water rights claims of 
the Zuni Indian Tribe in Apache County, Arizona, 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. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Zuni Indian Tribe 
Water Rights Settlement Act of 2003’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find-
ings:
(1) It is the policy of the United States, in 
keeping with its trust responsibility to Indian tribes, 
to promote Indian self-determination, religious free-
dom, political and cultural integrity, and economic 
self-sufficiency, and to settle, wherever possible, the 
water rights claims of Indian tribes without lengthy 
and costly litigation. 
(2) Quantification of rights to water and devel-
opment of facilities needed to use tribal water sup-
plies effectively is essential to the development of 
viable Indian reservation communities, particularly 
in arid western States. 
(3) On August 28, 1984, and by actions subse-
quent thereto, the United States established a res-
ervation for the Zuni Indian Tribe in Apache Coun-
ty, Arizona upstream from the confluence of the Lit-
tle Colorado and Zuni Rivers for long-standing reli-
gious and sustenance activities. 
(4) The water rights of all water users in the 
Little Colorado River basin in Arizona have been in 
litigation since 1979, in the Superior Court of the 
State of Arizona in and for the County of Apache 
in Civil No. 6417, In re The General Adjudication 
of All Rights to Use Water in the Little Colorado 
River System and Source.
(5) Recognizing that the final resolution of the 
Zuni Indian Tribe’s water claims through litigation 
will take many years and entail great expense to all 
parties, continue to limit the Tribe’s access to water 
with economic, social, and cultural consequences to 
the Tribe, prolong uncertainty as to the availability 
of water supplies, and seriously impair the long-term 
economic planning and development of all parties, 
the Tribe and neighboring non-Indians have sought 
to settle their disputes to water and reduce the bur-
dens of litigation. 
(6) After more than 4 years of negotiations, 
which included participation by representatives of 
the United States, the Zuni Indian Tribe, the State 
of Arizona, and neighboring non-Indian communities 
in the Little Colorado River basin, the parties have 
entered into a Settlement Agreement to resolve all of 
the Zuni Indian Tribe’s water rights claims and to 
assist the Tribe in acquiring surface water rights, to 
provide for the Tribe’s use of groundwater, and to 
provide for the wetland restoration of the Tribe’s 
lands in Arizona. 
(7) To facilitate the wetland restoration project 
contemplated under the Settlement Agreement, the 
Zuni Indian Tribe acquired certain lands along the
Little Colorado River near or adjacent to its Res-
ervation that are important for the success of the 
project and will likely acquire a small amount of 
similarly situated additional lands. The parties have 
agreed not to object to the United States taking title 
to certain of these lands into trust status; other 
lands shall remain in tribal fee status. The parties 
have worked extensively to resolve various govern-
mental concerns regarding use of and control over 
those lands, and to provide a successful model for 
these types of situations, the State, local, and tribal 
governments intend to enter into an Intergovern-
mental Agreement that addresses the parties’ gov-
ernmental concerns. 
(8) Pursuant to the Settlement Agreement, the 
neighboring non-Indian entities will assist in the 
Tribe’s acquisition of surface water rights and devel-
opment of groundwater, store surface water supplies 
for the Zuni Indian Tribe, and make substantial ad-
ditional contributions to carry out the provisions of 
the Settlement Agreement. 
(9) To advance the goals of Federal Indian pol-
icy and consistent with the trust responsibility of the 
United States to the Tribe, it is appropriate that the 
United States participate in the implementation of