S. 306 would secure up to 5,828 acre-feet of water annually for the Tule River Tribe of California by ratifying the Tule River Tribe Reserved Water Rights Settlement Agreement reached in 2007 by the Tule River Tribe, the Tule River Association, and the South Tule Independent Ditch Company. The bill would appropriate funds to capitalize the Tule River Indian Tribe Settlement Trust Fund, an interest-bearing fund that would be administered by the Department of the Interior (DOI). After the parties have satisfied certain conditions, the federal government would transfer the trust fund (including any interest credited to the fund) to the tribe for use in constructing water projects for the Tule Tribe Reservation in Tulare County, California.
