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JUNE 14, 2000

Representative Mary Bono of California has introduced the Torres-Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians Settlement Act, a bill which would compensate the Cahuilla for having 11,800 acres of its land covered by the Salton Sea.

The bill would pay the tribe $14 million in damages, $10 million from the federal government and $2 million each from the Imperial Irrigation District and Coachella Valley Water District. The bill also allows the tribe to purchase 640 acres for a casino site along Interstate 10.

In the 1980s, the Department of Justice sued the two water districts on the tribe's behalf. The suit is still pending in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Cabazon Band of Mission Indians oppose the bill, saying it will create a bad precedent for building casinos on non-reservation land.

Get the Story:
Bono pitches casino-land deal (The Desert Sun 6/14)