H.R. 6205, the Taos Pueblo Indian Water Rights Settlement Amendments Act of 2025, modifies the 2010 water rights settlement agreement for Taos Pueblo by expanding financial support for water infrastructure projects. The bill establishes two new supplemental trust funds—one for groundwater development and one for surface water sharing infrastructure—in addition to the existing water development fund, enabling the Pueblo to invest these funds and use earnings for water projects. It also creates a grant program for non-Pueblo entities to develop "mutual-benefit projects," including a critical mitigation well system, with completion deadlines of 4-5 years and provisions to reallocate funds if deadlines are missed. Congress appropriates $367 million in total federal funding, including $190 million for the Pueblo's groundwater development fund, $161 million for mutual-benefit projects, and $16 million for surface water sharing, with provisions to adjust amounts upward through 2035 for construction cost inflation. The bill streamlines settlement implementation by allowing alternative water infrastructure to satisfy the original mitigation requirements without additional cost-sharing or formal agreement modifications.
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