Implementation of the Taos Pueblo Indian water rights settlement

The Claims Resolution Act of 2010 was signed into law on December 8, 2010, authorizing the settlement of two long-running New Mexico Indian water rights cases. Title V, the Taos Pueblo Indian Water Rights Settlement Act, authorizes implementation of the Abeyta (Taos Pueblo) settlement. The Settlement Act authorizes and directs the Bureau of Reclamation to provide financial assistance in the form of grants on a non-reimbursable basis to plan, permit, design, engineer, and construct Mutual-Benefit Projects that will minimize adverse effects on the Pueblo’s water resources by moving future non-Indian ground water pumping away from the Pueblo’s Buffalo Pasture, a culturally sensitive wetland. The Federal Team is working with the Mutual-Benefit Project parties as they get ready for the on-the-ground phase of settlement implementation. Reclamation’s Albuquerque Area Office is in the process of completing environmental compliance and awarding grants to the entities that are moving forward with their projects. The overall cost of the settlement is $144 million, of which $124 million would be paid by the Federal government and $20 million by the State of New Mexico. The total federal contribution of $124 million includes $88.0 million directed to the Bureau of Indian Affairs for the Taos Pueblo Water Development Fund, and a $36 million settlement fund ($16 million mandatory and $20 million discretionary funds) directed to Reclamation for the Mutual-Benefit Projects.