A senior Interior Department official on Wednesday expressed support for completing a long-awaited water rights settlement for three Native American tribes in the Colorado River Basin but cautioned that the deal’s $5 billion price tag may need to be reduced.
Acting Reclamation Commissioner Scott Cameron testified before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee on S. 953, the “Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement Act.”
The bill, sponsored by Arizona Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, would codify an agreement reached in 2024 by the Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe and San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe to secure their share of flows from the Colorado River.
But the deal’s significant price tag — which would pay for infrastructure to deliver water to tribal lands, including both the Navajo Nation and Hopi Reservation where more than 30 percent of homes lack running water — is a stumbling block for both the Trump administration and some lawmakers.
