House subcommittee takes testimony on tribal water settlement bills

Wednesday, June 26, 2019

The House Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife is taking testimony on tribal water rights legislation on Wednesday afternoon.

Three bills are on the agenda for the hearing. They are:

• H.R.644, the Navajo Utah Water Rights Settlement Act. The bill ratifies a water rights settlement between the Navajo Nation, the state of Utah and the federal government. The Trump administration questioned the cost of the deal when the agreement came up during the last session of Congress.

• H.R.2459, the Hualapai Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act of 2019. The bill ratifies a water rights settlement between the Hualapai Tribe, the state of Arizona and the federal government. The Trump administration outright opposed the deal when during the last session of Congress.

• H.R.3292, the Aamodt Litigation Settlement Completion Act. The bill gives the federal government more time to implement the Aaamodt water settlement, an agreement affecting Pojoaque Pueblo, San Ildefonso Pueblo, Tesuque Pueblo and Nambe Pueblo in New Mexico.

The hearing takes place at 2pm Eastern in Room 1324 of the Longworth House Office Building building. The witness list follows:

Panel I
Mr. Alan Mikkelsen (H.R.644, H.R. 2459, and H.R. 3292)
Senior Advisor to the Secretary
Water and Western Resource Issues
U.S. Department of the Interior
Denver, CO

Panel II
Chairman Damon Clarke (H.R. 2459)
Hualapai Tribe
Peach Springs, AZ

Mr. Thomas Buschatzke (H.R. 2459)
Director
Arizona Department of Water Resources
Phoenix, AZ

Mr. Norman Johnson (H.R. 644)
Natural Resources Division Chief
Utah Attorney General’s Office
Salt Lake City, UT

President Jonathan Nez (H.R. 644)
Navajo Nation
Window Rock, AZ

House Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife Notice

Legislative hearing on H.R. 644, H.R. 2459, and H.R. 3292 (June 26, 2019)