Understanding the $1.7 billion Indian water rights settlements
And where is the remaining $800m for such settlements required under the bipartisan infrastructure law?
WASHINGTON — As part of the bipartisan infrastructure law, signed by President Joe Biden in November, $2.5 billion of the approximately $13 billion for tribes was set aside for Indian water rights settlements.
When U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland recently announced that $1.7 billion of the funds were being distributed, many tribes were pleased — especially those that were designated to receive funding — but others wondered where the other $800 million was sitting and why it wasn’t being distributed now as well.
For answers, Indigenous Wire went to the Interior Secretary's Indian Water Rights Office, and below is what we found out:
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