HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.
![handle is hein.congrecreports/crptxafex0001 and id is 1 raw text is: AUTHENTICATED
..GOVERNMENT
INFORMATION
117TH CONGRESS REPORT
2d Session SENATE 117-286
COLORADO RIVER INDIAN TRIBES WATER RESILIENCY
ACT OF 2022
DECEMBER 22, 2022.-Ordered to be printed
Mr. SCHATZ, from the Committee on Indian Affairs,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 3308]
The Committee on Indian Affairs, to which was referred the bill
(S. 3308) to authorize the Colorado River Indian Tribes to enter
into lease or exchange agreements and storage agreements relating
to water of the Colorado River allocated to the Colorado River In-
dian Tribes, and for other purposes, having considered the same,
reports favorably thereon with an amendment, in the nature of a
substitute, and recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass.
PURPOSE
S. 3308 authorizes the Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT) to
enter into agreements to lease or exchange a portion of their water
allocation for off-reservation use, or to store water in off-reserva-
tion facilities, subject to Secretarial approval. S. 3308 further pro-
vides that any off-reservation use or storage of the Tribes' allocated
water must be located in the Lower Basin of the Colorado River in
Arizona and not within Navajo, Apache, or Cochise counties.
BACKGROUND & NEED FOR LEGISLATION
In Arizona v. California, the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed
CRIT's first-priority present perfected water rights in the State of
Arizona.1 These water rights are superior to many others in the
state and are less vulnerable to restriction and curtailment in
times of drought. However, because CRIT secured these rights
through litigation rather than settlement, it is currently unable to
engage in water leasing, exchange, storage, and conservation agree-
ments on par with the 24 other Tribes-including eight Tribes in
1547 U.S. 150 (1963).
39-010](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.congrecreports/crptxafex0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)