I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1276 
To approve, ratify, and confirm the settlement agreement entered into to 
resolve claims by the Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians relating to alleged 
interences with the water resources of the Tribe, to authorize and direct 
the Secretary of the Interior to execute and perform the Settlement 
Agreement and related waivers, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 1, 2007 
Mrs. BONO (for herself, Mr. LEWIS of California, Mr. BACA, and Mr. KILDEE) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To approve, ratify, and confirm the settlement agreement 
entered into to resolve claims by the Soboba Band of 
Luiseno Indians relating to alleged interences with the 
water resources of the Tribe, to authorize and direct 
the Secretary of the Interior to execute and perform 
the Settlement Agreement and related waivers, and for 
other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Soboba Band of 
Luisen˜o Indians Settlement Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) The Soboba Band of Luisen˜o Indians is a 
federally recognized Indian tribe whose Reservation 
of approximately 6,000 acres, extending east and 
north from the banks of San Jacinto River in River-
side County, California, was created by an Executive 
Order of June 19, 1883, and enlarged and modified 
by subsequent Executive Orders, purchases, and an 
Act of Congress. 
(2) The Tribe’s water rights have not been 
quantified, and the Tribe has longstanding unre-
solved claims for interferences with the water re-
sources of its Reservation, which the Tribe main-
tains have rendered much of the Tribe’s Reservation 
useless for habitation, livestock, or agriculture. On 
April 20, 2000, the Tribe filed a lawsuit against the 
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California 
for interference with the Tribe’s water resources and 
damages to its Reservation allegedly caused by Met-
ropolitan Water District of Southern California’s 
construction and operation of the San Jacinto Tun-
nel, which is part of the Colorado River Aqueduct. 
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The lawsuit, titled Soboba Band of Luisen˜o Indians 
v. Metropolitan Water District of Southern Cali-
fornia, No. 00–04208 GAF (MANx), is pending in 
the United States District Court for the Central 
District of California. 
(3) The Tribe also has made claims against 
Eastern Municipal Water District and Lake Hemet 
Municipal Water District, located adjacent to the 
Reservation, seeking to secure its water rights and 
damages arising from alleged past interference with 
the Tribe’s water resources. 
(4) Recognizing that the final resolution of its 
water rights and 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 non-Indian entities have sought to set-
tle their water-related disputes and reduce the bur-
dens of litigation. 
(5) After negotiations, which included participa-
tion by representatives of the Tribe, the United 
States, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern 
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California, the Eastern Municipal Water District, 
and Lake Hemet Municipal Water District, the par-
ties have entered into a Settlement Agreement to de-
termine the Tribe’s water rights, resolve all of its 
claims for interference with the water resources of, 
and damages to, its Reservation, and provide for the 
construction of water projects to facilitate the exer-
cise of the Tribe’s rights. 
(6) Pursuant to the Settlement Agreement, 
Eastern Municipal Water District and Lake Hemet 
Municipal Water District acknowledge and assure 
the Tribe’s prior and paramount right, superior to 
all others, to pump 9,000 acre-feet of water annually 
from the San Jacinto River basin. To provide water 
to the Tribe and to reduce the overdraft of the 
basin, the two water districts and the Metropolitan 
Water District of Southern California will contract 
to import and recharge supplemental water supplies 
into the basin. The water districts also will make 
substantial additional contributions to the settle-
ment, including the conveyance of certain replace-
ment lands and economic development funds to the 
Tribe, to carry out the Settlement Agreement’s pro-
visions. 
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(7) It is appropriate that the United States 
participate in the implementation of the Settlement 
Agreement, and contribute funds to enable the Tribe 
to use its water entitlement in developing its Res-
ervation, and to assist the neighboring non-Indian 
entities in the construction, operation, and mainte-
nance of the facilities required to recharge the im-
ported water. 
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act include— 
(1) to approve, ratify, and confirm the Settle-
ment Agreement entered into by the Tribe and non- 
Indians entities; 
(2) to authorize and direct the Secretary of the 
Interior to execute and perform the Settlement 
Agreement and related waivers; and 
(3) to authorize the actions, agreements, and 
appropriations as provided in the Settlement Agree-
ment and this Act. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act, the following definitions apply: 
(1) DEVELOPMENT FUND.—The term ‘‘Devel-
opment Fund’’ means the Soboba Band of Luisen˜o 
Indians Water Development Fund established by 
section 7. 
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(2) RESERVATION.—The term ‘‘Reservation’’ 
means the Soboba Indian Reservation created by an 
Executive Order dated June 19, 1883, and enlarged 
and modified by subsequent Executive Orders, pur-
chases, and an Act of Congress, excluding the 950 
acres northwest of and contiguous to the Reserva-
tion known as the ‘‘Jones Ranch,’’ purchased by the 
Soboba Tribe in fee on July 21, 2001, and placed 
into trust on January 13, 2003, the 129.19 acres 
southeast of and contiguous to the Reservation 
known as the ‘‘Horseshoe Properties,’’ purchased by 
the Soboba Tribe in fee in four separate transactions 
in June and December 2001, and the 478 acres 
north of and contiguous to the Reservation known as 
‘‘Kwiili,’’ purchased by the Soboba Tribe in fee on 
April 4, 2004. 
(3) RESTORATION FUND.—The term ‘‘Restora-
tion Fund’’ means the San Jacinto Basin Restora-
tion Fund established by this Act. 
(4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary’s des-
ignee. 
(5) 
SETTLEMENT
AGREEMENT.—The 
term 
‘‘Settlement Agreement’’ means that agreement 
dated June 7, 2006, together with all exhibits there-
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to. The parties to the Settlement Agreement are the 
Soboba Band of Luisen˜o Indians and its members, 
the United States on behalf of the Tribe and its 
members, the Metropolitan Water District of South-
ern California, Eastern Municipal Water District, 
and Lake Hemet Municipal Water District. 
(6) TRIBE, SOBOBA TRIBE, OR SOBOBA BAND 
OF LUISEN˜O INDIANS.—The terms ‘‘Tribe’’, ‘‘Soboba 
Tribe’’, or ‘‘Soboba Band of Luisen˜o Indians’’ 
means the body politic and federally recognized In-
dian tribe, and its members. 
(7) WATER
MANAGEMENT
PLAN.—The term 
‘‘Water Management Plan’’ means the plan, ap-
proved by the Soboba Tribe and the Secretary, de-
veloped pursuant to Section 4.8, paragraph A of the 
Settlement Agreement to resolve the overdraft of the 
San Jacinto basin. 
SEC. 4. RATIFICATION OF SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT; AU-
THORIZATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The United States hereby ap-
proves, ratifies, and confirms the Settlement Agreement, 
except to the extent it conflicts with the provisions of this 
Act, and consents to be made a party to the pending ac-
tion described in section 2(a)(2) for the purpose of enter-
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ing the judgment and decree attached to the Settlement 
Agreement as Exhibit H. 
(b) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary is authorized 
and directed to execute, and take such other actions as 
are necessary to implement, the Settlement Agreement 
and any amendments approved by the parties necessary 
to make the Settlement Agreement consistent with this 
Act. 
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
(a) RESTORATION
FUND.—There is authorized 
$10,000,000 to be appropriated to the San Jacinto Basin 
Restoration Fund established in this Act to pay or reim-
burse costs associated with constructing, operating, and 
maintaining the portion of the basin recharge project, de-
scribed in Section 4.5 of the Settlement Agreement, nec-
essary to accommodate deliveries of the supplemental im-
ported water under Section 4.4 of the Settlement Agree-
ment. 
(b) DEVELOPMENT
FUND.—There is authorized 
$11,000,000 to be appropriated to the Soboba Band of 
Luisen˜o Indians Water Development Fund to pay or reim-
burse costs associated with constructing, operating, and 
maintaining water and sewage infrastructure, and other 
water-related development projects. 
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SEC. 6. RESTORATION FUND. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Thereis established within 
the Treasury of the United States a non-interest bearing 
account to be known as the ‘‘San Jacinto Basin Restora-
tion Fund’’, consisting of the amounts authorized to be 
appropriated in section 5(a). 
(b) ADMINISTRATION.—The Restoration Fund shall 
be administered by the Secretary for the purposes set 
forth in subsection (d). 
(c) AVAILABILITY.—The funds authorized to be ap-
propriated pursuant to section 5(a) shall be available for 
expenditure or withdrawal only after the requirements set 
forth in section 9(e) and subsection (d) of this section have 
been met. 
(d) EXPENDITURES AND WITHDRAWALS.— 
(1) EXPENDITURE PLAN.— 
(A) 
IN
GENERAL.—Eastern 
Municipal 
Water District, on behalf of the Water Manage-
ment Plan, shall submit to the Secretary for ap-
proval an expenditure plan for use of the Res-
toration Fund. 
(B) 
REQUIREMENTS.—The 
expenditure 
plan shall require that any funds be expended 
or reimbursed in accordance with the purposes 
described in section 5(a). 
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(C) APPROVAL.—The Secretary shall ap-
prove the expenditure plan if it is reasonable 
and not inconsistent with this Act. 
(2) WITHDRAWALS.—On approval by the Sec-
retary of the expenditure plan described in this sec-
tion, the Eastern Municipal Water District, on be-
half of the Water Management Plan, may withdraw 
monies from the Restoration Fund as provided in 
the plan. 
(3) ENFORCEMENT.—The Secretary may take 
judicial or administrative action to enforce the provi-
sions of any expenditure plan to ensure that monies 
withdrawn from the Restoration Fund under the 
plan are used in accordance with this Act. 
(4) LIABILITY.—If the Eastern Municipal 
Water District, on behalf of the Water Management 
Plan, exercises the right to withdraw monies from 
the Restoration Fund, neither the Secretary nor the 
Secretary of the Treasury shall retain any liability 
for the expenditure or investment of the monies 
withdrawn. 
(5) 
ANNUAL
REPORT.—Eastern 
Municipal 
Water District shall submit to the Tribe and the 
Secretary an annual report that describes all ex-
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penditures from the Restoration Fund during the 
year covered by the report. 
SEC. 7. DEVELOPMENT FUND. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 
the Treasury an interest bearing account to be known as 
the ‘‘Soboba Band of Luisen˜o Indians Water Development 
Fund’’, to be managed and invested by the Secretary, con-
sisting of the amounts authorized to be appropriated in 
section 5(b). 
(b) MANAGEMENT.—The Secretary shall manage the 
Development Fund, make investments, and make monies 
available for distribution consistent with the American In-
dian Trust Fund Management Reform Act of 1994 (25 
U.S.C. 4001 et seq.) (referred to in this section as the 
‘‘Trust Fund Reform Act’’), this Act, and the Settlement 
Agreement. 
(c) 
INVESTMENT.—The 
Secretary 
shall 
invest 
amounts in the Development Fund in accordance with— 
(1) the Act of April 1, 1880 (21 Stat. 70, ch. 
41, 25 U.S.C. 161); 
(2) the first section of the Act of June 24, 
1938 (52 Stat. 1037, ch. 648, 25 U.S.C. 162a); and 
(3) subsection (b). 
(d) AVAILABILITY.—The funds authorized to be ap-
propriated pursuant to section 5(b) shall be available for 
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expenditure or withdrawal only after the requirements set 
forth in section 9(e) and subsection (e) have been met. 
(e) EXPENDITURES AND WITHDRAWALS.— 
(1) TRIBAL MANAGEMENT PLAN.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The Tribe may with-
draw all or part of the Development Fund on 
approval by the Secretary of a tribal manage-
ment plan as described in the Trust Fund Re-
form Act. 
(B) REQUIREMENTS.—In addition to the 
requirements under the Trust Fund Reform 
Act, the tribal management plan shall require 
that any funds be expended or reimbursed in 
accordance with the purposes described in sec-
tion 5(b). 
(2) ENFORCEMENT.—The Secretary may take 
judicial or administrative action to enforce the provi-
sions of any tribal management plan to ensure that 
monies withdrawn from the Development Fund 
under the plan are used in accordance with this Act. 
(3) LIABILITY.—If the Tribe exercises the right 
to withdraw monies from the Development Fund, 
neither the Secretary nor the Secretary of the Treas-
ury shall retain any liability for the expenditure or 
investment of the monies withdrawn. 
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(4) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Tribe shall submit 
to the Secretary an annual report that describes all 
expenditures from the Development Fund during the 
year covered by the report. 
(5) NO PER CAPITA DISTRIBUTIONS.—No part 
of the Development Fund shall be distributed on a 
per capita basis to members of the Tribe. 
SEC. 8. WAIVERS AND RELEASES. 
(a) TRIBE AND UNITED STATES AUTHORIZATION.— 
The Tribe, on behalf of itself and its members, and the 
Secretary, on behalf of the United States in its capacity 
as trustee for the Tribe and its members, are authorized, 
as part of the performance of their obligations under the 
Settlement Agreement, to execute a waiver and release for 
claims under Federal, State, or other law against the Met-
ropolitan Water District of Southern California, the East-
ern Municipal Water District, and the Lake Hemet Munic-
ipal Water District, for any and all of the following: 
(1) Past, present, and future claims to surface 
and groundwater rights for the Reservation from 
time immemorial through the effective date de-
scribed in section 10 and anytime thereafter. 
(2) Past, present, and future claims for injury 
of any kind, whether to person, property, or other 
right or interest, arising from, or in any way related 
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to, interference with surface and groundwater rights 
and resources of the Reservation, including, but not 
limited to, all claims for injury to the Tribe’s use 
and enjoyment of the Reservation, economic develop-
ment, religion, language, social structure and cul-
ture, and injury to the natural resources of the Res-
ervation, from time immemorial through the effec-
tive date described in section 10. 
(3) Past, present, and future claims for injury 
of any kind, whether to person, property, or other 
right or interest, arising from, or in any way related 
to, continuing interference with surface and ground-
water rights and resources of the Reservation, in-
cluding the full scope of claims defined in Section 
5.1, paragraph A(2) of the Settlement Agreement, to 
the extent that such continuing interference began 
prior to the effective date described in section 10 of 
this Act, from time immemorial through the effective 
date described in section 10 of this Act and anytime 
thereafter. 
(4) Past, present, and future claims for injury 
of any kind, whether to person, property, or other 
right or interest, arising from, or in any way related 
to, seepage of water into the San Jacinto Tunnel, in-
cluding the full scope of claims defined in Section 
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5.1, paragraph A(2) of the Settlement Agreement, 
from time immemorial through the effective date de-
scribed in section 10 of this Act and anytime there-
after. 
(b) TRIBAL
WAIVERS
AGAINST
THE
UNITED 
STATES.—The Tribe is authorized, as part of the perform-
ance of its obligations under the Settlement Agreement, 
to execute a waiver and release for claims against the 
United States (acting in its capacity as trustee for the 
Tribe or its members, or otherwise acting on behalf of the 
Tribe or its members), including any agencies, officials, 
or employees thereof, for any and all of the following: 
(1) Claims described in subsection (a). 
(2) Past, present, and future claims for failure 
to acquire or develop water rights and resources of 
the Reservation from time immemorial through the 
effective date described in section 10 of this Act and 
anytime thereafter. 
(3) Past, present, and future claims for failure 
to protect water rights and resources of the Reserva-
tion from time immemorial through the effective 
date described in section 10 of this Act, and any 
past, present, and future claims for any continuing 
failure to protect water rights and resources of the 
Reservation, from time immemorial through the ef-
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fective date described in section 10 of this Act and, 
to the extent that such continuing failure to protect 
began before the effective date described in section 
10 of this Act, anytime thereafter. 
(4) Past, present, and future claims arising 
from the failure of any non-federal Party to fulfill 
the terms of the Settlement Agreement at anytime. 
(5) Past, present, and future claims arising out 
of the negotiation of the Settlement Agreement or 
the negotiation and enactment of this Act, or any 
specific terms or provisions thereof, including, but 
not limited to, the Tribe’s consent to limit the num-
ber of participant parties to the Settlement Agree-
ment. 
SEC. 9. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS. 
(a) WAIVER OF SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY.—If any party 
to the Settlement Agreement brings an action or other 
proceeding in any court of the United States relating only 
and directly to the interpretation or enforcement of this 
Act or the Settlement Agreement and names the United 
States or the Soboba Tribe as a party— 
(1) the United States, the Tribe, or both, may 
be joined in any such action; and 
(2) any claim by the United States or the Tribe 
to sovereign immunity from the action is waived, 
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other than with respect to claims for monetary 
awards, for the limited and sole purpose of such in-
terpretation or enforcement. 
(b) TRIBAL USE OF WATER.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to water rights 
made available under the Settlement Agreement— 
(A) the Tribe may use water made avail-
able to it under the Settlement Agreement for 
any use it deems advisable on the Reservation 
and on any other lands it owns or may acquire, 
in fee or in trust, contiguous to the Reservation 
or within the area of the groundwater basin de-
scribed in Section 2.4 of the Settlement Agree-
ment; 
(B) such water rights shall be held in trust 
by the United States in perpetuity, and shall 
not be subject to forfeiture or abandonment; 
and 
(C) State law shall not apply to the Tribe’s 
use of water made available to it under the Set-
tlement Agreement. 
(2) LIMITATION.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
subparagraph (B), the Tribe shall not sell or 
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lease water made available to it under the Set-
tlement Agreement. 
(B) EXCEPTION.—The Tribe may enter 
into contracts and options to lease, contracts 
and options to exchange, or contracts and op-
tions to forbear the use of water made available 
to it under the Settlement Agreement or post-
pone undertaking new or expanded water uses, 
provided that any such contract or option for a 
term greater than five years shall require the 
approval of the Secretary. Any such water 
thereby made available to others shall only be 
used by participants in, or other users within 
the area of, the Water Management Plan de-
scribed in Section 2.32 of the Settlement Agree-
ment. No contract shall be for a term exceeding 
100 years, nor shall any contract provide for 
permanent alienation of any portion of the 
water rights made available under the Settle-
ment Agreement. 
(c) ACCEPTANCE OF LAND INTO TRUST.—The Sec-
retary shall accept into trust for the benefit of the Tribe 
the lands conveyed to the Tribe pursuant to Section 4.6 
of the Settlement Agreement. 
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(d) HABITAT CONSERVATION.—The United States, 
in its capacity as trustee for the Tribe, and the Tribe in 
its own right shall make available, including, if necessary, 
by conveyance of a permanent easement to the United 
States Fish and Wildlife Service or other agency of the 
United States, up to 98 acres of Reservation land for habi-
tat conservation related to the portion of the basin re-
charge project necessary to accommodate deliveries of the 
supplemental imported water described in Section 4.4 of 
the Settlement Agreement. 
(e) AVAILABILITY OF APPROPRIATIONS.—The funds 
authorized to be appropriated under section 5 of this Act 
shall not be available for expenditure or withdrawal until 
the requirements of section 10(a) of this Act have been 
met and the waivers and releases set out in section 8 of 
this Act become effective. 
(f) RETENTION OF RIGHTS.—In the event the waiv-
ers and releases set out in section 8 of this Act do not 
become effective pursuant to section 10(a) of this Act, the 
Soboba Tribe and the United States shall retain the right 
to assert all rights and claims enumerated in section 8, 
and any claims or defenses of the parties to the Settlement 
Agreement shall also be retained. The parties expressly re-
serve all rights not specifically granted, recognized, 
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waived, or released by the Settlement Agreement or this 
Act. 
(g) PRECEDENT.—Nothing in this Act shall be con-
strued or interpreted as a precedent for the quantification 
or litigation of Federal reserved water rights or the inter-
pretation or administration of future water settlement 
Acts. 
(h) OTHER INDIAN TRIBES.—Nothing in the Settle-
ment Agreement or this Act shall be construed in any way 
to quantify or otherwise adversely affect the water rights, 
claims, or entitlements to water of any Indian tribe, band, 
or community, other than the Tribe. 
(i) ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE.—Signing by the 
Secretary of the Settlement Agreement does not constitute 
major Federal action under the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). The Sec-
retary shall comply with all aspects of the National Envi-
ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), 
and other applicable environmental laws, in implementing 
the terms of the Settlement Agreement and this Act. 
SEC. 10. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The waiver and release authoriza-
tions contained in subsections (b) and (c) of section 8 shall 
become effective on the date that the Secretary causes to 
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be published in the Federal Register a statement of find-
ings that— 
(1) to the extent that the Settlement Agreement 
conflicts with this Act, the Settlement Agreement 
has been revised to conform with the Act; 
(2) the Settlement Agreement, revised as nec-
essary, and the waivers and releases described in Ar-
ticle 5 of the Settlement Agreement and section 8 of 
this Act have been executed by the parties and the 
Secretary; 
(3) warranty deeds for the property to be con-
veyed to the Tribe described in section 4.6 of the 
Settlement Agreement have been placed in escrow; 
(4) the Tribe and the Secretary have approved 
the Water Management Plan; 
(5) the judgment and decree attached to the 
Settlement Agreement as Exhibit H has been ap-
proved by the United States District Court, Eastern 
Division of the Central District of California, and 
that judgment and decree have become final and 
nonappealable; and 
(6) the payment of the funds authorized by sec-
tion 5 of this Act have been appropriated and depos-
ited into the Restoration Fund and the Development 
Fund. 
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(b) DEADLINE FOR EFFECTIVE DATE.—If the condi-
tions precedent required under paragraph (a) have not 
been fulfilled by December 31, 2008, the Settlement 
Agreement and this Act shall not thereafter be effective 
and shall be null and void, any funds and the interest ac-
crued thereon appropriated pursuant to section 5 shall re-
vert to the general fund of the United States Treasury 
on October 1, 2009. 
Æ 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
16:54 Mar 03, 2007
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