The Biden administration announced on Thursday to give a total of $580 million in federal money to fifteen Native Americans for a water rights agreement. The water rights agreement indicates the tribes’ right to water sources and pays for pumping stations, canals, and pipelines that deliver it to reservations.
The agreement was signed in 1908 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that tribes have the right to water as they need to establish a permanent homeland. ABC reported that the details of water rights were not specified and are not up to date in the modern era.
PBS reported that $460 million comes from the $2.5 billion budget for Native American water rights settlements in the Biden administration’s infrastructure bill. The remaining $120 million is contributed from the federal fund created by Congress in 2009 to pay for water rights settlement.
Native American tribes are expected to receive $580 million from the water rights settlement. (Photo: NC State University)
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in Montana are expected to receive about $157 million. The federal government and the two tribes signed an agreement in 2021. The deal includes the promise to fund the rebuilding of an irrigation project on the Flathead Indian Reservation.
The Navajo Nation, which spans parts of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah, will receive $137 million for the ongoing water project in the city of Gallup and northwestern New Mexico. The project is a network of pipelines and pumping stations that will deliver treated water from the San Juan River. It is expected to finish by 2027.
The Gila River Indian Community in Arizona is expected to receive $79 million, which could help fund their irrigation system on the reservation. The tribe is currently dealing with a drought in the West.
Other tribes expected to receive the money are the Ak-Chin Indian Community and Pueblos of San Ildefonso, Crow Nation, Nambe, Pojoaque, San Carlos Apache Nation, Southern Ute Indian Tribe, and Tesuque.
