Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

WASHINGTON –President Barack Obama today signed into law a major water and public lands package written in large part by U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman. 

The package, which fell under the jurisdiction of Bingaman’s Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, passed the Senate last week.  The bill contains Bingaman’s legislation to settle a water rights claim in the Four Corners region, construct a pipeline in eastern New Mexico, and help water managers better plan for the future. 

“This new law is very good for New Mexico,” Bingaman said.  “It is one of the most important bills we’ve been able to enact in recent years to tackle water issues in our state.’

One of the bills in the package is legislation Bingaman and Senator Tom Udall have introduced in the past to settle the Navajo Nation’s water rights claims in the San Juan River Basin.

The legislation, called the Northwestern New Mexico Rural Water Projects Act, reflects a 2005 agreement between the State of New Mexico and the Navajo Nation, which needs congressional approval.  It recognizes a right to approximately 600,000 acre-feet per year of existing water supplies to the Navajo Nation for agricultural, municipal, industrial, domestic and stock watering purposes.  It also authorizes federal funding for the Navajo-Gallup Pipeline project and various water conservation projects in the basin. 

Under the proposal, the federal government would contribute funding over about two decades to construct the pipeline and perform other activities to implement the agreement.  The bill authorizes $870 million to construct the project, although some of that cost will be paid by the State of New Mexico and the communities served. 

The measure also provides an assured source of future funding to pay for the project, ensuring that the settlement is implemented.  It does this by setting aside surplus revenues in the Reclamation Fund to pay for the Navajo settlement, and future settlements. 

“This new law will bring potable water to parts of the Navajo Nation where generations of residents have had to haul water.  It also gives certainty to water users in McKinley and San Juan counties,” Bingaman said.

“For the 70,000 Navajo Indians without access to running water—and for all of the communities in northwestern New Mexico that will benefit from this bill—this day has been a long time coming,” said Udall.  “After years of work with Senator Bingaman to get this done, I am proud that President Obama has signed this legislation into law and we have put northwestern New Mexico on a path towards a sustainable future.”

The package also includes Bingaman’s Eastern New Mexico Rural Water System Authorization Act, which Udall also previously introduced and passed in the House.  The measure authorizes the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to spend up to $327 million to assist the Eastern New Mexico Rural Water Authority in the construction of the pipeline.  The water will come from the Ute Reservoir, which was built on the Canadian River in 1959 as a sustainable water supply for eastern New Mexico. 

A few years after the reservoir was constructed, Congress authorized the study of a pipeline that would transport the water to eastern New Mexico communities that needed it.  But it was only in the past few years, with an increasing concern about declining and degrading groundwater resources in the area, that the affected New Mexico communities began in-depth planning for the pipeline. 

Under the legislation, the state and the Eastern New Mexico Rural Water Authority (ENMRWA), which represents communities in eastern New Mexico that will benefit from the pipeline, will contribute a total of 25 percent of the cost of construction.  The Authority will be responsible for operating and maintaining the pipeline.

“After many years of study, we now have a plan enacted into law that will help eastern New Mexico meet its water needs into the future,” Bingaman said. 

“This is a huge accomplishment for all of us, especially our leaders on the eastside who put a lot of work into getting this bill signed into law,” said Udall.  “With President Obama’s signature on this bill, the eastside can look forward to having the resources it needs for a more vibrant and secure future.”

Communities that will be served by the pipeline include: Grady, Clovis, Melrose, Texico, Portales, Elida, Cannon Air Force Base, and other potential locations in Curry, Roosevelt and Quay counties.

Another of the bills included in the package is one Bingaman and Udall introduced for the first time last year to improve the aging water infrastructure on pueblo lands.

The Rio Grande Pueblos Irrigation Infrastructure Improvement Act would give the Bureau of Reclamation the authority to work with any of New Mexico’s tribes to assess pueblo irrigation infrastructure and initiate projects to rehabilitate and repair the infrastructure as needed.  Recognizing the need to coordinate with other programs to efficiently use limited resources, the bill also directs the Commissioner of Reclamation to work with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Army Corps of Engineers to identify opportunities to use the authorities of those agencies to collaborate on projects that make sense to all involved.

“This new law will give the Bureau of Reclamation the important task of helping to rehabilitate pueblo irrigation infrastructure, with an eye toward water conservation,” Bingaman said. 

“This legislation is exactly the kind of pragmatic solution we need to help meet New Mexico’s water needs,” said Udall.  “It helps our tribes preserve their way of life while protecting New Mexico’s water supply for the benefit of all who depend on it.  After fighting for its passage alongside Senator Bingaman, I am please that President Obama has signed it into law.”

The package includes Bingaman’s SECURE Water Act which aims to improve water management and increase the acquisition and analysis of water-related data to better understand critical water resources, particularly in arid parts of the country.

“Water managers will have an increasingly difficult role to play in meeting the water needs of the Southwest, particularly as population increases and climate change affect the availability of this precious resource.  The SECURE Water Act will help ensure water managers have access to the best data to inform their decisions,” Bingaman said.

“New Mexico’s future depends on our ability to anticipate and address the impact of global climate change, one of the most significant challenges the West has faced in our history,” said Udall.  “By signing this bill, President Obama has laid the groundwork for New Mexico to adapt and to protect our way of life for generations to come.”

The bill requires an expansion of the National Streamflow Information Program and the development of a systematic groundwater monitoring program.  The bill also directs the U.S. Geological Survey to formally establish a water use and availability assessment program consistent with recommendations made by the National Research Council.  Completing a water census such as that called for in the bill will also help educate policy-makers on the use of water involved in various types of energy production.

The bill also takes into account the impacts of global climate change on water resources.  Reports from the last several seasons indicate that increasing temperatures are resulting in less snowpack in many regions, changing the timing of snow-melt runoff and underscoring the need for more data like the kind prescribed in the bill.  At a Capitol Hill hearing on climate change and water held by the Energy Committee, the USGS indicated that current climate models are also projecting a long-term drying trend in the Southwest - the fastest growing region in the country.

To help address this issue the bill directs the Secretary of the Interior to establish an intra-governmental panel to link the scientific community and water managers to improve water availability forecasts and to implement adaptation strategies.  The legislation also requires the Bureau of Reclamation to initiate a climate change adaptation program to develop strategies and conduct feasibility studies to address water shortages, conflicts and other impacts to water users and the environment.  In addition, both Reclamation and the Department of Energy are directed to assess the effects of climate change on the water supplies needed for hydropower production, which represents the source of at least 7 percent of the nation’s electricity supply.

Additionally, the bill authorizes the Bureau of Reclamation to provide financial assistance to states, tribes and local entities to construct improvements or take actions to increase water use efficiencies in response to drought, climate change and other water-related crises.

Finally, the package contains a measure Bingaman wrote to continue a project that works to restore the Rio Puerco -- one of state’s largest tributaries to the Rio Grande.  Specifically, the bill reauthorizes the Río Puerco Watershed Management Program, which Bingaman first wrote into law in 1996.  Over the past decade, it has helped restore much of the 7,000 square-mile degraded watershed.