NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – The federal government is putting nearly $327 million towards Native American water rights settlements and projects, including more than $100 million towards the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project in New Mexico.

The U.S. Department of the Interior is overseeing the funding. They say the money will help secure tribal water supplies.

“Through the President’s Investing in America agenda, the Interior Department is continuing to uphold our trust responsibilities and ensure that Tribal communities receive the water resources they have long been promised,” Secretary Deb Haaland said in a press release. “Reliable water is crucial to ensuring the health, safety and empowerment of Indigenous communities. I am grateful that Tribes, some of whom have been waiting for this funding for decades, are finally getting the resources they are owed.”

The federal government acts as a trustee in several dozen water rights settlements with Native American groups. For fiscal year 2024, the following settlements and projects will get funds:

  • Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project ($164,000,000)
  • Aamodt Litigation Settlement ($69,100,000)
  • Blackfeet Water Rights Settlement ($35,790,000)
  • Ak-Chin Indian Water Community Rights Act ($22,500,000)
  • Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement ($12,772,000)
  • Southern Arizona Water Rights Settlement – Farm Extension ($9,000,000)
  • Nez Perce Settlement ($6,100,000)
  • Animas-La Plata Project (Colorado Ute) ($3,400,000)
  • Navajo-Gallup O&M ($2,000,000)
  • San Carlos Apache Tribe – Distribution System ($1,500,000)
  • San Carlos Irrigation Project Rehab ($400,000)