Senate Committee Advances Padilla, Schiff Bill to Enact a Water Settlement Between the Tule River Tribe and the United States
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff (both D-Calif.) announced that the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs advanced their legislation to formally recognize the Tule River Tribe’s reserved water rights and quantify the Tribe’s water right of 5,828 acre-feet per year of surface water from the South Fork of the Tule River. The bill passed out of committee by voice vote and now moves to the Senate floor for consideration by the full Senate.
For decades, the Tule River Tribe has worked with the federal government and downstream water users to advance a settlement agreement, avoiding costly and adversarial litigation for both the Tribe and the United States government. This legislation would fulfill the federal government’s trust and treaty responsibilities to the Tule River Tribe by ensuring that the Tribe is able to access the water resources they were promised and to provide clean drinking water to their people.
“Water is a sacred and necessary resource for tribal nations and all communities,” said Senator Padilla. “As California and the West experience periods of extreme drought and devastating atmospheric rivers, our bill would provide water security for the Tule River Tribe now and for future generations. The federal government must live up to its trust and treaty responsibilities to protect the long-term strength of the Tule River Tribe by finalizing this critical water settlement.”
“Water is a precious resource that so many of us take for granted. This legislation will provide much-needed water security for the Tule River Tribe and ensure critical access to clean drinking water,” said Senator Schiff.
“This bill will help secure critical water supplies to the Tule River Reservation and to the agricultural community downstream,” said Tule River Tribe Chairman Lester Shine Nieto. “As we have since our efforts to settle our water rights began in 1971, we will continue to work tirelessly to ensure reliable water access for our tribal communities.”
In 1971, the Tribe began its efforts to secure its federally reserved water rights to be able to restore water on their reservation. The Tribe extensively studied possible storage options and entered into an agreement with downstream water users to ensure that their proposed storage project would not adversely impact their water. This was known as the 2007 Settlement Agreement. This legislation would ratify that agreement and is supported by the downstream water users. It would also transfer nearly 10,000 acres of federal lands in the Sequoia National Forest into trust so that the Tribe can manage the headwaters of the watershed.
Full text of the bill is available here.
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