S. 637 · Where this bill is now
In committee
Introduced in the Senate, Feb 19, 2025
What this bill does
In plain words · AI-written from the official summaryNavajo-Gallup water project gets extended deadline
This bill updates a water supply project that was created to settle the Navajo Nation's water rights in New Mexico. It pushes back the deadline for finishing the project's main facilities to the end of 2029, and allows the project to expand where it can deliver water—including to Lupton, Arizona, and to Navajo communities in Utah. The bill also directs the federal government to put certain land into trust for the Navajo Nation and creates two new trust funds to help with operating and maintaining water systems.
How it affects you
The Navajo Nation and Jicarilla Apache Nation will see direct impacts, as the bill extends their timeline for completing water infrastructure and provides funding mechanisms for long-term upkeep. Most other Americans won't experience direct changes from this bill, though it affects water availability in a region of the Southwest and honors earlier agreements about tribal water rights.
Read the official summary (Introduced in Senate, Feb 19, 2025)
Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project Amendments Act of 2025
This bill extends deadlines and otherwise revises the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project. This project was first authorized by the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, which settled the Navajo Nation's water rights in the San Juan Basin of New Mexico.
Specifically, the bill extends through December 31, 2029, the deadline for constructing project facilities.
The bill allows for additional project service areas, including by allowing the Navajo Nation to expand the project service area in order to deliver water supply from the project to Lupton, Arizona. The bill also sets forth criteria to authorize non-project water to flow outside of the project service area to Navajo communities in Utah.
The bill directs the Department of the Interior to take certain land into trust for the benefit of the Navajo Nation.
The bill also establishes (1) the Navajo Nation Operations, Maintenance, and Replacement Trust Fund; and (2) the Jicarilla Apache Nation Operations, Maintenance, and Replacement Trust Fund.
Written by AI (Claude) using only the official summary by the Congressional Research Service, the Library of Congress’s nonpartisan research staff. It can miss nuance, so check the official summary and the bill text for details.
1st SessionS. 637
A BILL
Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project Amendments Act of 2025
Sponsor: Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) · Introduced Feb 19, 2025 · Native Americans · 1 version of the text
Sources: Congress.gov actions and votes · bill text from GovInfo · latest official action Mar 5, 2025: “Committee on Indian Affairs. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably.”