U.S. Water News Online
PHOENIX -- Congress has given final approval to a measure that designates more than 650,000 acre feet of Colorado River water to Indian tribes who can lease it back to cities for a profit.
After more than a year of negotiation, the House gave final approval and sent the bill to President Bush for his signature.
The bill ratifies outstanding water settlements involving the Central Arizona Project and a series of other water claims involving tribes in Arizona and New Mexico.
The Tohono O'odham Nation south of Tucson is to receive 37,800 acre feet of CAP water and the Gila River Indian Community south of Phoenix would receive 155,700 acre feet.
The Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe in northern Arizona still want their claims to the Colorado River settled, and those discussions have barely begun. The San Carlos Apache Tribe also has claims remaining.
The CAP was authorized more than 30 years ago as a way of bringing Colorado River water to Phoenix and Tucson.
The federal government spent more than $3.6 billion to build the 336-mile canal, which was finished in 1993, and then demanded that Arizona repay $2.3 billion of the cost. The project board argued that Arizona owed much less and refused to pay the bill.
The federal government sued, but Arizona forced a settlement and agreed to pay $1.65 billion, an amount written into law with the vote.
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