S. 965: Taos Pueblo Indian Water Rights Settlement Act

111th Congress · introduced 2009-05-04 · Native Americans · Latest: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 257.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2009-05-04 · official record
Who proposed it: Sen. Bingaman, Jeff [D-NM] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 257. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
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

Taos Pueblo Indian Water Rights Settlement Act

Plain summary

Taos Pueblo Indian Water Rights Settlement Act - Authorizes, ratifies, and confirms the Settlement Agreement of March 31, 2006, between the United States, the Taos Pueblo, New Mexico, the Taos Valley Acequia Association and its 55 member ditches, Taos, the El Prado Water and Sanitation District (EPWSD), and the 12 Taos area Mutual Domestic Water Consumers Associations, and any amendments executed to make the Agreement consistent with this Act. Requires water rights to which the Taos Pueblo is entitled under the Partial Final Decree entered in New Mexico v. Abeyta and New Mexico v. Arellano to be held in trust by the United States. Directs the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Commissioner of Reclamation, to provide: (1) grants and technical assistance to the Pueblo to construct, replace, or rehabilitate water infrastructure, to protect the environment associated with the Buffalo Pasture area, and to enhance watershed conditions; and (2) financial assistance to eligible non-Pueblo entities for mutual-benefit projects in accordance with the Agreement. Establishes in the Treasury the Taos Pueblo Water Development Fund. Authorizes the Pueblo to market its water rights under the Agreement. Directs the Secretary to enter into three repayment contracts for the delivery of specified amounts of San Juan-Chama Project water to the Pueblo, the town of Taos, and EPWSD. Provides for the waiver and release of claims against the parties to New Mexico v. Abeyta and New Mexico v. Arellano in return for recognition of the Pueblo's water rights. Authorizes appropriations for FY2010-FY2016 for the Taos Pueblo Infrastructure and Watershed Fund, for the Taos Pueblo Water Development Fund, and for Mutual-Benefit Projects funding (to minimize adverse impacts on the Pueblo's water resources by moving future non-Indian ground water pumping away from the Pueblo's Buffalo Pasture and to implement the resolution of a dispute over the allocation of certain surface water flows between the Pueblo and non-Indian irrigation water right owners in the community of Arroyo Seco Arriba).

Congressional Research Service summary (Reported to Senate with amendment(s)), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

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A “Nay” vote

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What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Taos Pueblo Indian Water Rights Settlement Act

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Reported to Senate with amendment(s))

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

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Bingaman, Jeff [D-NM] · 1 cosponsors

Cost estimate: CBO cost estimate: S. 965, Taos Pueblo Indian Water Rights Settlement Act (2009-10-13); CBO cost estimate: S. 965, Taos Pueblo Indian Water Rights Settlement Act (2009-10-13)

Cosponsors on this site

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 (2)

Appropriation: Money a legislature sets aside by law for a specific purpose. Government agencies may spend public money only as it has been appropriated.
Resolution: A formal statement or decision by a legislative body. Simple resolutions often only express an opinion or set rules for one chamber; they do not become law.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Reported to Senate with amendment(s))
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-111s965.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/111/s>

Record fed-us-cong111-s965 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong111 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong111