This legislation, titled the Zuni Indian Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act of 2025, aims to achieve a fair, equitable, and final settlement of all water rights claims for the Zuni Indian Tribe and the United States, acting as trustee for the Tribe, within the Zuni River Stream System in New Mexico. It authorizes, ratifies, and confirms a comprehensive settlement agreement, directing the Secretary of the Interior to execute it and take necessary actions for its implementation. A primary purpose is to provide funding for the agreement's execution. The bill defines the Tribal Water Rights as those identified in the agreement and confirmed in a Partial Final Judgment and Decree, held in trust by the United States for the Tribe. These rights are explicitly protected from loss through non-use, forfeiture, or abandonment. The Tribe is granted authority to allocate, distribute, and lease these water rights for use on Zuni Lands, and with Secretarial approval, for use off Zuni Lands, with leases not exceeding 99 years. A crucial component is the establishment of the Zuni Tribe Settlement Trust Fund , managed by the Secretary of the Interior, comprising two accounts: the Zuni Tribe Water Rights Settlement Trust Account and the Zuni Tribe Operation, Maintenance, & Replacement Trust Account. The bill mandates appropriations of $655,500,000 for the settlement account and $29,500,000 for the operation, maintenance, and replacement account, subject to cost adjustments. These funds are to be used for planning, designing, constructing, and maintaining water infrastructure, watershed protection, economic development, environmental compliance, and water rights management. The legislation outlines specific waivers and releases of claims by both the Zuni Tribe and the United States against each other, effective on an Enforceability Date . These waivers cover past water rights claims and damages within the Zuni River Stream System. However, the bill also reserves certain rights and retains claims, including those related to the enforcement of recognized water rights, water quality, and claims accruing after the Enforceability Date. The Enforceability Date is contingent upon several conditions, including the amendment and execution of the agreement, court approval, full federal funding, State contributions of $750,000 for monitoring and $500,000 for groundwater mitigation, and State legislation allowing 99-year water right leases. The bill also clarifies that it does not diminish the water rights or claims of individual Allottees, which are to be adjudicated separately from the Tribal Water Rights. Beyond water rights, Title II focuses on the Zuni Salt Lake and Sanctuary Protection . It withdraws approximately 92,364 acres of federal land within the Sanctuary from all forms of entry, appropriation, mining, and mineral leasing to protect the Lake, its water resources, and associated cultural values. This withdrawn land will be managed by the Bureau of Land Management in consultation with the Tribe, with specific restrictions on activities such as motor vehicle use, water wells, grazing, new rights-of-way, timber sales, and casual collecting. Finally, the bill mandates the transfer of specific federal land, designated as the “Tribal Acquisition Area,” into trust for the benefit of the Tribe on the Enforceability Date. Any water rights associated with this transferred land will be held in trust for the Tribe but will not be included in the Tribal Water Rights. The Secretary is also directed to take future acquired lands within designated “Potential Future Acquisition Areas” into trust for the Tribe under certain conditions.