Authorizing the transfer to the Navajo Tribe of Irrigation Project Works on the Navajo Reservation, and for other purposes


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Source: 56th Congress 2d Session, Senate, Report No. 1418

AUTHORIZING THE TRANSFER TO THE NAVAJO TRIBE OF IRRIGATION PROJECT WORKS ON THE NAVAJO RESERVATION, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES


MAY 24, 1960.--Ordered to be printed


Mr. ANDERSON, from the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H.R. 8295]

The Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs to whom was referred the bill (H.R. 8295) to authorize the transfer to the Navajo Tribe of irrigation project works on the Navajo Reservation, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with amendments and recommend that the bill as amended do pass.

The amendments are as follows:

On page 1, line 5, after the word ‘‘constructed’’ insert the words ‘‘or under construction’’.

On page 2, line 19, strike the word ‘‘Moupi’’ and insert in lieu thereof the word ‘‘Moqui’’.

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 8295, as amended is to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to transfer to the Navajo Tribe, with tribal approval, title to any or all of the irrigation project works on the Navajo Reservation that were constructed by the United States, together with the equipment usable for the operation and maintenance of the works. The bill further provides for Federal personnel to train and assist tribal personnel in operating any irrigation works transferred to the tribe so that the tribal personnel may be qualified to assume full responsibility for project works. The Navajo Tribe will pay the cost of Interior Department personnel employed for this purpose.

There are 67 irrigation units scattered throughout the Navajo Reservation ranging in size from less than 100 acres to 6,000 acres. The total for all units is approximately 33,800 acres. Original reimbursable construction costs for the units was approximately $6,570,000, of which about $670,000 has been canceled, leaving a balance of approximately $5,900,000. The Leavitt Act (47 Stat. 564) deferred the assessment of construction costs on Indian irrigation projects until the lands go out of Indian ownership, and the provisions of H.R. 8295 do not alter that situation. By the terms of the bill, after the project works are transferred, the land and the irrigation works will not be subject to any restrictions because of Indian ownership, but the land, the project works, and any income therefrom will continue to be tax exempt as long as they remain in Indian ownership.

Section 3 of the bill provides that no transfer of project works to the Navajo Tribe will affect in any way the merits of the conflicting claims of the Navajo and Hopi Indians within the 1882 Executive order reservation area. The method for resolving those conflicting claims is provided by Public Law 85-547.

COST

The annual cost of operation and maintenance on Navajo projects has averaged $200,000 in recent years. The tribe is of the opinion that it can operate the works more economically than the Department of the Interior. On January 1, 1958, the tribe began paying all operation and maintenance costs. Following the passage of the bill, the Navajos will permanently assume these costs, thus relieving the Federal Government of this burden.

AMENDMENTS

Under the terms of H.R. 8295, there is provision for an orderly turnover of irrigation units as the tribal organization develops and the Indians are trained to handle them. As passed by the House, the bill would not have permitted the transfer of project works which are presently under construction; such as the Hogback unit. The committee has amended the bill to provide for the transfer of such works when they are completed.

The second amendment makes a spelling correction.

DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS

The executive communication from the Department of the Interior dated June 26, 1959, recommending the enactment of this legislation is as follows:

Department of the Interior
Office of the Secretary,
Washington, D.C., June 26, 1959.

Hon. RICHARD M. NIXON,
President of the Senate,
Washington, D.C.

DEAR MR. PRESIDENT: Enclosed is a draft of a proposed bill to authorize transfer to the Navajo Tribe of irrigation project works on the Navajo Reservation and for other purposes.

We recommend that the bill be referred to the appropriate committee for consideration, and we recommend that it be enacted.

The bill authorizes the Secretary to transfer to the Navajo Tribe, with its approval, title to any or all of the irrigation project works on the Navajo Reservation that were constructed by the United States, together with the equipment usable for the operation and maintenance of the works, and to provide Federal personnel to train tribal personnel to operate the works. The Federal Government will be relieved of all responsibility after such transfers for the annual operation and maintenance of the project works. The tribe's control over the use and disposition of the project works will be unrestricted, but the works and the income therefrom will be exempt from taxation as long as any lands served by the works remain in a trust or restricted status.

The irrigation project works involved consist of 67 units for which records are currently being kept, plus an unknown number of other units that were partially or completely constructed but that are either inoperative, abandoned, or left to management by individual Indians and are no longer carried on the agency books. The units are scattered over an area approximately 180 miles long and 140 miles wide. They vary in size from less than 100 acres to 6,000 acres. Seven exceed 1,000 acres, 14 range between 400 and 1,000 acres, 35 range between 100 and 400 acres, and 11 are under 100 acres. The total acreage for all units under constructed irrigation facilities is approximately 33,800 acres.

The construction program on the Navajo Reservation was first begun by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1904 under the authority of the act of July 4, 1884 (23 Stat. 90). Since then a number of appropriation acts have authorized specific units. The Ganado unit, for example, was authorized by the act of August 24, 1912 (37 Stat. 522).

The original reimbursable construction cost of the units was approximately $6,570,000, of which about $670,000 has been canceled leaving a balance of approximately $5,900,000. In addition to reimbursable expenditures, considerable nonreimbursable money was spent on the irrigation project works during the 1930's through the emergency conservation works, Civilian Conservation Corps, Public Works Administration, and Works Progress Administration programs. The reimbursable construction costs will not be affected by the bill. Under the Leavitt Act, they will not be assessed against the irrigated lands until the lands pass out of Indian ownership.

The annual cost of operation and maintenance has increased steadily from about $10,000 to $60,000 in 1950. From 1951 to the present time the cost has averaged about $200,000 as the result of a sharply increased rehabilitation and betterment program.

Operation and maintenance costs paid from appropriated funds are reimbursable and are a lien against the land. Collections have reached about 9 percent in the 1930's, but have been less than 5 percent since 1950. The decline is due to several factors, including gradually failing water supplies, resistance of the people to cultural change, and reduced dependency on crops for subsistence.

The average operation and maintenance charge is about $6 per acre. The uncollected reimbursable charges totaled about $1,700,000 on December 31, 1957.

Until 1955, the efforts to collect operation and maintenance charges were directed primarily to the individual Indian water users, notwithstanding the fact that the land served by the works is all tribally owned. Since 1955, largely as the result of efforts to increase assessments to more nearly cover costs, the tribe has become aware of the fact that the unpaid operation and maintenance assessments become a tribal debt rather than an individual Indian debt, and are collectible from tribal funds. The act of March 7, 1928 (45 Stat. 210), makes such debts a charge against the land and thus the responsibility of the owner rather than the user.

The tribe felt that the operation and maintenance cost for water service was too high and that the tribe could do the job more economically. The tribal council asked for permission to take over operation and maintenance responsibility, and was informed that legislation for such purpose would be necessary inasmuch as the title to the works is in the United States and the reimbursable cost is a charge against the land.

By resolutions dated September 18, 1957, and February 14, 1958, the tribal council reaffirmed its desire to assume operation and maintenance responsibility. The Bureau of Indian Affairs agreed with the tribal council that it would recommend legislation for that purpose. In return, the tribal council recognized the tribe's responsibility for paying all operation and maintenance costs beginning January 1, 1958, and it agreed to pay such costs until the necessary legislation to transfer the works is enacted. In accordance with this agreement, the tribe has made tribal funds available to meet the Bureau's estimated operation and maintenance costs from January 1, 1958, to June 30, 1959.

The tribe is financially able to carry out the responsibility it desires to assume. The bill provides for time to train or hire tribal employees before the transfers are fully consummated. As many of the units are physically independent of each other, they may be transferred in groups as the tribal organization develops and becomes prepared to handle them. The transfer of such units as the Hogback, where a Bureau construction program is only partially complete, can be timed to coincide with its completion. Approximately 6,000 acres of an estimated ultimate 15,000 acres are at present under constructed works on Hogback.

Section 3 of the bill provides that no transfer of project works to the Navajo Tribe will affect in any way the merits of the conflicting claims of the Navajo and Hopi Indians within the 1882 Executive order reservation area. The method for resolving those conflicting claims is provided by Public Law 85-547.

The Bureau of the Budget advises us that there is no objection to the submission of this proposed legislation to the Congress.

Sincerely yours,

ROGER ERNST,
Assistant Secretary of the Interior.

A BILL to authorize the transfer to the Navajo Tribe of irrigation project works on the Navajo Reservation, and for other purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to transfer to the Navajo Tribe all of the right, title, and interest of the United States to any irrigation project works constructed by the United States within the Navajo Reservation, including machinery, equipment, tools, supplies, buildings, facilities, and improvements which are usable for the care, operation, and maintenance of such irrigation project works and which are not needed for the continued efficient operation of the irrigation construction program within the Navajo Reservation: Provided, That no such transfer or transfers shall be made without the prior approval of the Navajo Tribe: Provided further, That any such transfer of the Navajo Indian irrigation project works, if authorized and constructed by the Secretary to provide for municipal and industrial water supplies or miscellaneous purposes over and above the diversion requirements for irrigation, shall be made subject to such conditions as the Secretary deems appropriate to protect such authorized purposes.

SEC. 2. Prior to or at the time of each such transfer, the Secretary and the Chairman of the Navajo Tribal Council shall agree on the number of Department of the Interior personnel who shall be provided by the Secretary to train tribal personnel and to assist in operating any irrigation project works transferred to the tribe until such time as tribal personnel are trained and qualified, to assume full responsibility for any such irrigation project works. The Secretary and the Chairman shall also agree on the time during which such Department personnel shall be provided and the cost of their employment shall be paid by the tribe.

SEC. 3. The transfer to the Navajo Tribe pursuant to this Act of any irrigation project works located in whole or in part within the boundaries of the Reservation established by executive order dated December 16, 1882, for the use and occupancy of the Moupi (Hopi) and such other Indians as the Secretary of the Interior may see fit to settle thereon shall not be construed to affect in any way the merits of the conflicting claims of the Navajo and the Hopi Indians to the use or ownership of the lands within such 1882 reservation.

SEC. 4. The irrigation project works transferred to the tribe pursuant to this Act, and the land on which such works are located, shall be subject to no restriction on use, management, or disposition because of Indian ownership, but any such lands and project works and the income therefrom shall be exempt from all forms of taxation as long as but no longer than such lands and irrigation project works remain in the ownership of the Navajo Tribe or in the ownership of a legal entity controlled by the Navajo Tribe or its membership, unless otherwise provided by Congress.

TRIBAL RESOLUTIONS

The resolutions adopted by the Navajo Tribe on September 18, 1957, and on February 14, 1958, in support of legislation to transfer irrigation work are as follows:

RESOLUTION OF THE NAVAJO TRIBAL COUNCIL

Clarifying the understanding and the intent of Navajo Tribal Resolution No. CS-81-57 and providing for necessary amendment to the tribal budget

Whereas:

1.The Navajo Tribal Council's approval and passage of Resolution No. CS-81-57 was with the understanding and intent that the Navajo Tribe would assume the expenses of operation and maintenance charges in irrigation projects on tribal lands commencing January 1, 1958, subject to the following conditions:
(a)That a bill would be presented and passed by the U.S. Congress providing the following:
(1)The authorization of the transfer to the tribe of responsibility to assume the obligations of irrigation project works on the Navajo Reservation; and
(2)The transfer to the tribe of title of all equipment, tools, supplies, buildings, facilities, and other improvements owned and used by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the irrigation project works not otherwise needed; and
(3)The obtaining of Bureau of Indian Affairs personnel's assistance, consistent with guardianship responsibility of the Government toward the Navajo Tribe, in training and operating the irrigation project works until adequate tribal personnel can be trained to assume full responsibility of these works.
(b)The obtaining of the cancellation by the Bureau of Indian Affairs either through an act of Congress or otherwise, of all alleged unpaid reimbursable charges relative to operation and maintenance of irrigation projects on Navajo lands prior to January 1, 1958.

Now, therefore, be it resolved, that:

1.The Navajo Tribal Council respectfully requests the Bureau of Indian Affairs to carry out the above enumerated conditions consistent with the intent and purposes of Resolution No. CS-81-57.
2.The Commissioner of Indian Affairs be informed that the Navajo Tribal Council desires in all instances to appropriate by council action such funds as are required for various purposes under the regular appropriating procedures of tribal funds, including budget modification. The Navajo Tribal Council, therefore, requests that in the future, allotments of Navajo tribal treasury funds be not made without proper appropriation action by the Navajo Tribal Council.
3.The Navajo tribal budget for fiscal year 1958 be and it hereby is amended to include the additional sum shown as follows:

Division 586; section K; title: Irrigation, operation and maintenance.

Objective classification: .13 Contractual services, $91,249.

CERTIFICATION

I hereby certify that the foregoing resolution was duly considered by the Navajo Tribal Council at a duly called meeting at Window Rock, Ariz., at which a quorum was present, and that same was approved by a vote of 64 in favor and 1 opposed, 1 abstaining, this 14th day of February 1958.

PAUL JONES,
Chairman, Navajo Tribal Council.

RESOLUTION OF THE NAVAJO TRIBAL COUNCIL

IRRIGATION PROJECTS ON TRIBAL LANDS; CANCELLATION OF OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE EXPENDITURES

Whereas:

1.The council, on February 6, 1957, passed a resolution (No. CF-33-57) authorizing the chairman to enter into agreements with the Secretary of the Interior for cancellation of operation and maintenance charges on irrigation projects on Navajo tribal lands upon the assumption by the tribe of the responsibilities for future operation and maintenance charges for such projects from and after January 1, 1958; and
2.The Secretary of the Interior, through his representatives, is preparing recommendations to Congress pursuant to the Leavitt Act (25 U.S.C. sec. 386a) to cancel all outstanding operation and maintenance charges up to January 1, 1958; and
3.Since passing the above resolution of February 6, 1957, the Solicitor of the Department of the Interior has ruled that The Government cannot transfer to the tribe the operation and management of said projects unless such transfer has been authorized by act of Congress; and
4.An appropriate act of Congress is required and will be recommended to the Secretary of the Interior for submission to the Congress in January 1958, authorizing the Secretary to convey and transfer to the Navajo Tribe the operation and maintenance of the said irrigation projects and all equipment being used by the Government for such purposes; and
5.It will be necessary and in the best interests of the tribe to advance funds for the operation and maintenance of the irrigation projects from and after January 1, 1958, and to have an educational and training program for Navajo personnel in the management, operation and maintenance of said projects during the period until the passage of the aforesaid act authorizing the transfer to the tribe of the said equipment to be listed in an inventory agreed upon with the tribe and submitted to the Congress with the aforesaid act.

Now, therefore, be it resolved that:

1.It is in the best interests of the Navajo Tribe:
(a)To resume responsibility for the payment of operation and maintenance costs from and after January 1, 1958 on irrigation projects located on tribal lands;
(b)To accept, as soon as the same has been authorized by an act of Congress, the responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the irrigation projects on the Navajo Reservation and the transfer of all equipment now used by the Government in the operation and maintenance of said projects, an inventory of which will be agreed upon between the Government and the tribe for submission to the Congress; and
(c)To develop and put into effect a management plan and an organization acceptable to the Secretary for the operation and maintenance of said irrigation projects.
2.The officers of the tribe be and are hereby empowered and directed to execute any and all agreements or other instruments which may be necessary, incidental, or advisable in order to carry out the purposes of this resolution.

CERTIFICATION

I hereby certify that the foregoing resolution was duly considered by the Navajo Tribal Council at a duly called meeting at Window Rock, Ariz., at which a quorum was present, and the same was approved by a vote of 69 in favor and none opposed, this 18th day of September 1957.

J. MAURICE MCCABE,
Acting Chairman, Navajo Tribal Council

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