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H.R. 5592: Blackfeet Water Rights Settlement Act of 2010

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H.R. 5592: Blackfeet Water Rights Settlement Act of 2010

111th Congress · introduced 2010-06-24 · Native Americans · Latest: Referred to the Subcommittee on Water and Power.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

  1. Where it came from: introduced 2010-06-24 · official record
  2. Who proposed it: Rep. Rehberg, Denny [R-MT-At Large] · what a sponsor is
  3. What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
  4. Where it stands now: Referred to the Subcommittee on Water and Power. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
  5. If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Blackfeet Water Rights Settlement Act of 2010

Plain summary

Blackfeet Water Rights Settlement Act of 2010 - Directs the Secretary of the Interior, in providing to the Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana the St. Mary River water right, to allocate to the Tribe 50,000 acre-feet per year of stored water in Lake Sherburne Reservoir as part of the tribal water right. Exempts the Tribe from any requirement to pay any costs associated with the allocation. Prohibits the allocation from being increased by any year-to-year carryover storage. Requires the Tribe and the Secretary to enter into an agreement to lease the water allocated to the Tribe for use by the Secretary for the Milk River Project. Requires, as part of the tribal water right, the Secretary to permanently allocate to the Tribe all remaining unallocated water in Lake Elwell. Directs the Secretary to carry out such activities as are necessary relating to: (1) planning, design, and construction for rehabilitation and improvement of the Blackfeet Irrigation Project; (2) the completion to authorized acreage of the Blackfeet Irrigation Project; and (3) planning, design, and construction for rehabilitation and improvement of the Four Horns Dam and Reservoir and associated delivery systems of the Blackfeet Irrigation Project. Authorizes, ratifies, and confirms a specified compact and the Birch Creek Agreement. Holds the tribal water right in trust by the United States for the benefit of the Tribe. Establishes: (1) the Blackfeet Land and Water Development Fund; and (2) the Birch Creek Mitigation Fund. Sets forth provisions concerning: (1) water rights in the Lewis and Clark National Forest; and (2) Milk River water rights.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

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A “Nay” vote

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PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Blackfeet Water Rights Settlement Act of 2010

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Rehberg, Denny [R-MT-At Large] · 0 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (1)
Authorization
A law that creates or continues a government program and says what it may do, often with a suggested spending ceiling. An authorization alone does not provide money; a separate appropriation does.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Record fed-us-cong111-hr5592 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong111 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong111