Crow Tribe Water Settlement: New Accounts Created, But Feds Drop Future O&M Costs

The Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement Amendments Act of 2025 is essentially a major financial clean-up and restructuring of the 2010 water settlement agreement with the Crow Tribe. It doesn’t introduce massive new projects, but it completely changes how the money for existing ones will be managed and, crucially, who pays for them down the road. This bill is all about updating the plumbing on a decade-old deal.

The New Financial Architecture

The biggest change is the creation of two new dedicated, interest-bearing accounts. The bill is taking money that was previously sitting in joint signature accounts and moving it into more specialized buckets. First, there’s the MRI Projects Account. This money is strictly earmarked for planning, designing, and building water production, treatment, and wastewater infrastructure on the Reservation. Think pipes, treatment plants, and the systems that keep the water clean and flowing. Second, there’s the Crow CIP Implementation Account, which is dedicated to carrying out the general implementation activities of the original water settlement.

This restructuring (found in new sections 411 and 412) provides clarity and ensures that infrastructure dollars are spent on infrastructure. The Tribe must prioritize these water and wastewater projects. Once the Tribe officially notifies the Secretary of the Interior that these on-Reservation projects are complete, any leftover cash in the MRI Projects Account can then be used to purchase on-Reservation land that already has water rights. This gives the Tribe a clear path toward infrastructure first, then land acquisition.

The Future Cost Shift: No More Free Fixes

Here’s the detail that hits the hardest: The bill explicitly clarifies that while the Tribe will own, control, and operate any project built with these funds, the Federal Government has no obligation to pay for the operation, maintenance, or replacement of any MRI Project (Section: Ownership and Federal Obligation). If you’re building a new water treatment plant, that’s great, but the moment it’s done, every future repair, every broken pump, and every annual maintenance cost is now entirely on the Tribe’s balance sheet. This is a massive, long-term fiscal shift. It’s like getting a free, brand-new car but being told the manufacturer will never cover the oil changes or engine replacements.

For the average person on the Reservation, this means that while they get necessary infrastructure improvements now, the long-term sustainability of that water system depends entirely on the Tribe’s ability to manage costs, potentially leading to higher utility fees or service cuts down the line if funding runs short. The clarity is useful, but the cost burden is significant.

Yellowtail Dam and Technical Tweaks

The bill also extends a specific period related to the Yellowtail Dam in Montana, pushing the deadline from 15 years to 20 years. This offers a bit more breathing room for whatever activity is tied to that specific section of the original 2010 Act. Finally, the legislation cleans up a lot of old paperwork, repealing the former Section 406 that governed the old “MRI System” and making a host of technical corrections to ensure all the cross-references in the original 2010 law point to the new account names and sections. It’s the kind of bureaucratic housekeeping that’s necessary when you move significant funds around.