November 18, 2022

Heinrich introduces two bills to resolve tribal water rights in New Mexico

The U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs held a hearing Wednesday on a variety of tribal water rights settlement bills, including two that impact the Mountain West region. The Pueblos of Jemez and Zia in the Rio Jemez Basin, and the Pueblos of Acoma and Laguna in the Rio San Jose Basin have been working for nearly 40 years to access water they are owed by the federal government. New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich introduced two bills that would resolve water rights claims and provide more than $1.3 billion for things like irrigation and water pipelines.

Mountain West News Bureau | By Kaleb Roedel

The U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs held a hearing - [on Wednesday] on a variety of tribal water rights settlement bills, including two that impact our region.

The Pueblos of Jemez and Zia in the Rio Jemez Basin, and the Pueblos of Acoma and Laguna in the Rio San Jose Basin have been working for nearly 40 years to access water owed by the federal government.

Pueblo of Acoma Governor Randall Vicente said climate change is making access to that water more urgent than ever.

Vicente: “Aquifers and streams that once fed the Rio San Jose, the lifeblood of our communities and support our agricultural lifestyle, has been severely impacted, and in some cases devastated.”

Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M) introduced two bills that would resolve water rights claims and provide more than $1.3 billion, for things like irrigation and water pipelines.

This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West in Montana, KUNC in Colorado, KUNM in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.