This bill authorizes specific adjusted interest payments for the Navajo Nation, Taos Pueblo, and Aamodt Settlement Pueblos water funds while protecting previous legal and administrative findings.
Teresa Leger Fernandez
Representative
NM-3
This bill enacts technical corrections across several New Mexico water rights acts, primarily authorizing specific, adjusted interest payments to boost the Navajo Nation, Taos Pueblo, and Aamodt Settlement Pueblos water development funds. It also waives certain past interest payments owed by the Aamodt Settlement Pueblos. Finally, the legislation includes disclaimers to ensure these changes do not invalidate previously settled agreements or administrative findings under existing law.
Water Settlement Funds Get $18.4 Million Boost: Navajo, Taos, and Aamodt Pueblos Receive Adjusted Interest Payments
This bill, titled the Technical Corrections to the Northwestern New Mexico Rural Water Projects Act, is essentially a financial cleanup and infusion for three major water rights settlements involving Native American communities in New Mexico. It authorizes nearly $18.47 million in supplemental, adjusted interest payments to three specific water development funds: the Navajo Nation Water Resources Development Trust Fund, the Taos Pueblo Water Development Fund, and the Aamodt Settlement Pueblos Fund.
The Final Accounting: Why the Extra Cash?
Think of this as the government finding a stack of old invoices and realizing they underpaid the interest on these water settlement accounts years ago. Now they’re making it right. The bill authorizes specific, large appropriations to top off these funds. For the Navajo Nation Trust Fund, Congress is authorizing an extra $6,357,674.46. The Taos Pueblo Water Development Fund is set to receive a boost of $7,794,297.52. This money goes directly into funds established to pay for water infrastructure projects, ensuring these communities have the resources to build and maintain their water systems.
A Clean Slate for the Aamodt Pueblos
The Aamodt Settlement Pueblos Fund is getting its own increase of $4,314,709.18. This specific amount is earmarked to help the Pueblos cover their share of costs for operating, maintaining, and replacing the Pueblo Water Facilities and the Regional Water System. But there’s an extra bonus here: the bill directs the Treasury Secretary to waive any interest payments the Pueblos might owe the U.S. government on funds made available before September 15, 2017. It’s a financial break that effectively clears the books on certain past obligations, allowing those funds to be focused entirely on water needs rather than old debts.
Protecting the Original Deals
One of the most important, if dry, sections of this bill is the disclaimer (Section 5). When you make technical changes to decades-old agreements, lawyers get nervous about reopening settled cases. This section acts like a protective shield, explicitly stating that these new financial adjustments do not invalidate or challenge any of the previous findings or agreements made under the original 2010 Claims Resolution Act. For the communities involved, this means they get the extra money without risking the legal finality of their hard-won water rights settlements. It’s a necessary piece of legal plumbing to ensure the fixes don't break the foundation.