Blackfeet Water Rights Settlement Act of 2011
Latest action. Committee on Indian Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 112-492.
Blackfeet Water Rights Settlement Act of 2011 - Directs the Secretary of the Interior, in providing to the Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana the St. Mary River water right, to allocate to the Tribe 50,000 acre-feet per year of stored water in Lake Sherburne Reservoir as part of the tribal water right. Exempts the Tribe from any requirement to pay any costs associated with the allocation. Prohibits the allocation from being increased by any year-to-year carryover storage.
Requires the Tribe and the Secretary to enter into an agreement to lease the water allocated to the Tribe for use by the Secretary for the Milk River Project.
Requires, as part of the tribal water right, the Secretary to allocate permanently to the Tribe all remaining unallocated water in Lake Elwell. Exempts the Tribe from any requirement to pay any costs associated with the allocation. Prohibits the allocation from being increased by any year-to-year carryover storage.
Directs the Secretary to carry out activities necessary to: (1) planning, design, and construction for rehabilitation and improvement of the Blackfeet Irrigation Project; (2) the completion to authorized acreage of the Blackfeet Irrigation Project; and (3) planning, design, and construction for rehabilitation and improvement of the Four Horns Dam and Reservoir and associated delivery systems of the Blackfeet Irrigation Project.
Authorizes, ratifies, and confirms a specified compact and the Birch Creek Agreement.
Holds the tribal water right in trust by the United States for the benefit of the Tribe.
Establishes: (1) the Blackfeet Land and Water Development Fund, and (2) the Birch Creek Mitigation Fund.
Sets forth requirements concerning: (1) water rights in the Lewis and Clark National Forest, and (2) Milk River water rights.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on February 17, 2011. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on October 20, 2011: Committee on Indian Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 112-492.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 112th Congress (2011-12), 283 of the 10,618 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
MAX BAUCUS (D-MT) introduced it on February 17, 2011, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Democrat.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on February 17, 2011, 5684 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 5439 days ago, on October 20, 2011.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 112th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2013 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers