Congress expands Navajo water project, establishes tribal trust funds for long-term costs

What it does

This bill amends the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project to authorize expansion of the water system to serve additional Navajo Nation communities in New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah; establishes trust funds to support operations and maintenance costs for the Navajo Nation and Jicarilla Apache Nation; allows deferral of certain project construction with a dedicated fund; and permits the Navajo Nation to use project infrastructure to deliver non-project water to Utah communities under a separate settlement agreement. The bill increases the project's authorized cost from $1.6 billion to $2.175 billion and provides $250 million for operations and maintenance.

Why we flagged it

The bill's core function is to expand and amend an existing federal water project serving Native American tribes, increase authorized funding, establish trust funds for operations, and clarify tribal authority over project assets and revenues. It is primarily a water infrastructure and tribal settlement measure.

• Section 5 permits Navajo Nation to use project infrastructure to deliver non-project water to Utah communities under a separate 2022 settlement agreement. This is substantively distinct from the core project authorization and appears to be a rider leveraging the bill's passage to advance a parallel water rights settlement.

What the text implies

• The bill permits the Navajo Nation to use federal project infrastructure (pipelines, treatment facilities) to deliver water unrelated to the core project, potentially creating operational and cost-allocation complexities if non-project water flows compete with project water for capacity or maintenance resources.
• The Deferred Construction Fund mechanism allows the Navajo Nation to defer project facilities indefinitely and redirect those funds to 'alternate facilities consistent with the purposes of the Project'—a broad definition that could permit construction of facilities beyond the original project scope if approved by the Secretary.
• The bill takes land underlying the San Juan Generating Station (a coal-fired power plant) into trust for the Navajo Nation while retaining a perpetual federal easement and federal ownership of the power plant itself. This creates a complex split-title arrangement that may complicate future tribal land management or energy transition decisions.
• Cost adjustments are permitted for 'unforeseen market volatility' beyond engineering indices, giving the Secretary discretion to increase appropriations without explicit congressional reauthorization, potentially opening the door to significant cost overruns.
• The bill does not explicitly cap the total cost of project expansion or service-area additions, only stating that expansion 'would not increase the cost of the Project beyond authorization levels'—a circular reference that depends on how 'authorization levels' are interpreted.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

The bill expands water access to underserved Navajo Nation and Jicarilla Apache communities, establishes dedicated trust funds for long-term operations and maintenance (reducing future cost-shifting to tribes), and clarifies the tribes' authority over project infrastructure and revenues. The expansion of service areas and the deferral mechanism allow tribes greater flexibility in managing construction timelines and costs.

Who stands to gain

• Navajo Nation (water infrastructure, trust funds, land in trust, operational control)
• Jicarilla Apache Nation (water access, operations and maintenance trust fund)
• City of Gallup (hydroelectric power revenue retention, reduced repayment obligation cap)
• Construction contractors (project expansion and deferred facility construction)
• Water treatment and conveyance equipment suppliers

Named in the bill

Navajo Nation, Jicarilla Apache Nation, City of Gallup, Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Secretary of Interior, San Juan Generating Station, Colorado River Storage Project, State of Utah, State of New Mexico, State of Arizona

Where it stands

2 cosponsors: 1 Democrats, 1 Republicans.

• Feb 19, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
• Feb 19, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Indian Affairs · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs”
• Mar 5, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Committee on Indian Affairs. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

1 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $270,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 8 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.

Ben Luján, the sponsor, reported $1,880,294 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• Navajo Nation — $270,000 on 2 filings

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.