H. R. 794
One Hundred Ninth Congress
of the
United States of America 
AT THE FIRST SESSION 
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday, 
the fourth day of January, two thousand and five 
An Act 
To correct the south boundary of the Colorado River Indian Reservation in Arizona, 
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE, FINDINGS, PURPOSES. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Colorado 
River Indian Reservation Boundary Correction Act’’. 
(b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) The Act of March 3, 1865, created the Colorado River 
Indian Reservation (hereinafter ‘‘Reservation’’) along the Colo-
rado River in Arizona and California for the ‘‘Indians of said 
river and its tributaries’’. 
(2) In 1873 and 1874, President Grant issued Executive 
Orders to expand the Reservation southward and to secure 
its southern boundary at a clearly recognizable geographic loca-
tion in order to forestall non-Indian encroachment and conflicts 
with the Indians of the Reservation. 
(3) In 1875, Mr. Chandler Robbins surveyed the Reserva-
tion (hereinafter ‘‘the Robbins Survey’’) and delineated its new 
southern boundary, which included approximately 16,000 addi-
tional acres (hereinafter ‘‘the La Paz lands’’), as part of the 
Reservation. 
(4) On May 15, 1876, President Grant issued an Executive 
Order that established the Reservation’s boundaries as those 
delineated by the Robbins Survey. 
(5) In 1907, as a result of increasingly frequent trespasses 
by miners and cattle and at the request of the Bureau of 
Indian Affairs, the General Land Office of the United States 
provided for a resurvey of the southern and southeastern areas 
of the Reservation. 
(6) In 1914, the General Land Office accepted and approved 
a resurvey of the Reservation conducted by Mr. Guy Harrington 
in 1912 (hereinafter the ‘‘Harrington Resurvey’’) which con-
firmed the boundaries that were delineated by the Robbins 
Survey and established by Executive Order in 1876. 
(7) On November 19, 1915, the Secretary of the Interior 
reversed the decision of the General Land Office to accept 
the Harrington Resurvey, and upon his recommendation on 
November 22, 1915, President Wilson issued Executive Order 
No. 2273 ‘‘. . . to correct the error in location said southern 
boundary line . . .’’—and thus effectively excluded the La Paz 
lands from the Reservation. 
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H. R. 794—2
(8) Historical evidence compiled by the Department of the 
Interior supports the conclusion that the reason given by the 
Secretary in recommending that the President issue the 1915 
Executive Order—‘‘to correct an error in locating the southern 
boundary’’—was itself in error and that the La Paz lands should 
not have been excluded from the Reservation. 
(9) The La Paz lands continue to hold cultural and histor-
ical significance, as well as economic development potential, 
for the Colorado River Indian tribes, who have consistently 
sought to have such lands restored to their Reservation. 
(c) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are: 
(1) To correct the south boundary of the Reservation by 
reestablishing such boundary as it was delineated by the Rob-
bins Survey and affirmed by the Harrington Resurvey. 
(2) To restore the La Paz lands to the Reservation, subject 
to valid existing rights under Federal law and to provide for 
continued reasonable public access for recreational purposes. 
(3) To provide for the Secretary of the Interior to review 
and ensure that the corrected Reservation boundary is resur-
veyed and marked in conformance with the public system of 
surveys extended over such lands. 
SEC. 2. BOUNDARY CORRECTION, RESTORATION, DESCRIPTION. 
(a) BOUNDARY.—The boundaries of the Colorado River Indian 
Reservation are hereby declared to include those boundaries as 
were delineated by the Robbins Survey, affirmed by the Harrington 
Survey, and described as follows: The approximately 15,375 acres 
of Federal land described as ‘‘Lands Identified for Transfer to Colo-
rado River Indian Tribes’’ on the map prepared by the Bureau 
of Land Management entitled ‘‘Colorado River Indian Reservation 
Boundary Correction Act, and dated January 4, 2005’’, (hereinafter 
referred to as the ‘‘Map’’). 
(b) MAP.—The Map shall be available for review at the Bureau 
of Land Management. 
(c) RESTORATION.—Subject to valid existing rights under Fed-
eral law, all right, title, and interest of the United States to those 
lands within the boundaries declared in subsection (a) that were 
excluded from the Colorado River Indian Reservation pursuant 
to Executive Order No. 2273 (November 22, 1915) are hereby 
restored to the Reservation and shall be held in trust by the 
United States on behalf of the Colorado River Indian Tribes. 
(d) EXCLUSION.—Excluded from the lands restored to trust 
status on behalf of the Colorado River Indian Tribes that are 
described in subsection (a) are 2 parcels of Arizona State Lands 
identified on the Map as ‘‘State Lands’’ and totaling 320 acres 
and 520 acres. 
SEC. 3. RESURVEY AND MARKING. 
The Secretary of the Interior shall ensure that the boundary 
for the restored lands described in section 2(a) is surveyed and 
clearly marked in conformance with the public system of surveys 
extended over such lands. 
SEC. 4. WATER RIGHTS. 
The restored lands described in section 2(a) and shown on 
the Map shall have no Federal reserve water rights to surface 
water or ground water from any source. 
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H. R. 794—3
SEC. 5. PUBLIC ACCESS. 
Continued access to the restored lands described in section 
(2)(a) for hunting and other existing recreational purposes shall 
remain available to the public under reasonable rules and regula-
tions promulgated by the Colorado River Indian Tribes. 
SEC. 6. ECONOMIC ACTIVITY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The restored lands described in section (2)(a) 
shall be subject to all rights-of-way, easements, leases, and mining 
claims existing on the date of the enactment of this Act. The 
United States reserves the right to continue all Reclamation 
projects, including the right to access and remove mineral materials 
for Colorado River maintenance on the restored lands described 
in section (2)(a). 
(b) ADDITIONAL RIGHTS-OF-WAY.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, the Secretary, in consultation with the Tribe, 
shall grant additional rights-of-way, expansions, or renewals of 
existing rights-of-way for roads, utilities, and other accommodations 
to adjoining landowners or existing right-of-way holders, or their 
successors and assigns, if—
(1) the proposed right-of-way is necessary to the needs 
of the applicant; 
(2) the proposed right-of-way acquisition will not cause 
significant and substantial harm to the Colorado River Indian 
Tribes; and 
(3) the proposed right-of-way complies with the procedures 
in part 169 of title 25, Code of Federal Regulations consistent 
with this subsection and other generally applicable Federal 
laws unrelated to the acquisition of interests on trust lands, 
except that section 169.3 of those regulations shall not be 
applicable to expansions or renewals of existing rights-of-way 
for roads and utilities. 
(c) FEES.—The fees charged for the renewal of any valid lease, 
easement, or right-of-way subject to this section shall not be greater 
than the current Federal rate for such a lease, easement, or right-
of-way at the time of renewal if the holder has been in substantial 
compliance with all terms of the lease, easement, or right-of-way. 
SEC. 7. GAMING. 
Land taken into trust under this Act shall neither be considered 
to have been taken into trust for gaming nor be used for gaming 
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H. R. 794—4
(as that term is used in the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 
U.S.C. 2701 et seq.)).
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate. 
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