{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://zinke.house.gov/media/press-releases/house-natural-resources-subcommittee-advances-zinkes-indian-water-compact", "House Natural Resources Subcommittee advances Zinke\u2019s Indian water compact bills for consideration by whole committee", "2024-07-23", "2024", "2024-07", "Republican", "House", "MT", "Ryan K. Zinke", "Z000018", "zinke.house.gov", "zinke", "https://zinke.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Today the House Natural Resources Committee, Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries held a hearing on various water rights bills including Congressman Zinke\u2019s bills H.R. 8791 \u201cFort Belknap Indian Community Water Rights Settlement Act of 2024\u201d and H.R. 8953 \u201cCrow Tribe Water Rights Settlement Amendments Act of 2024\u201d.\n\nThe Fort Belknap Indian Community Water Rights Settlement Act of 2024 will achieve a fair and final settlement of claims to water rights in the State of Montana for the Fort Belknap Indian Community. Senator Daines and Senator Tester have sponsored a similar bill in the Senate.\n\nAmong other things, the bill includes:\n\n$300 million to rehabilitate the St. Mary Canal and Dodson South Canal, part of the federal Milk River Project, for non-tribal water users in northcentral Montana\n\n$250 million for an upstream wastewater treatment facility on the Blackfeet Reservation\n\n$416 million to rehabilitate, modernize, and expand the Bureau of Indian Affairs\u2019 (BIA) Fort Belknap Indian Irrigation Project and to restore and develop irrigation systems.\n\nThe Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement Amendments Act of 2024 makes cost-free adjustments to the Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act of 2010 to make sure the Tribe has the needed flexibility to complete critical energy development projects.\n\nAmong other things, the bill includes:\n\nProviding flexibility for water projects\n\nBolstering energy development\n\nNo additional costs or changes to water rights\n\n\u201cPresident Stiffarm and the entire team with the FBIC has worked closely with my staff and I for over a year to make this legislation possible which meets long-overdue treaty obligations and delivers clean and reliable water to the great nation,\u201d said Congressman Zinke. \"The settlement honors long time commitments to the tribes while also meeting the needs of Montana\u2019s ag producers, private property owners, and other stakeholders along the hi-line. I am also grateful for the Crow Tribe for working with me and my staff as well to amend their excising Water Rights Settlement to provide much needed energy development.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:24:45Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://zinke.house.gov/media/press-releases/house-natural-resources-subcommittee-advances-zinkes-indian-water-compact"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8396441116929054, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}