Panel hears tribal leaders and sponsor urge lowering WaterSMART cost-share barriers for tribes

The subcommittee considered the Water Smart Access for Tribes Act, introduced by Representative Melanie Stansbury, which would permit the Secretary of the Interior to reduce or waive nonfederal cost-share requirements for tribes applying for WaterSMART grants.

"Water is life," Rep. Stansbury said in her opening remarks. She described limited piped water access on tribal lands and said the bill would "remove those barriers and would unlock 1,000,000 of dollars in investment in tribal water programs and projects," citing the program's aim to fund conservation, efficiency and infrastructure projects.

Dwight Witherspoon, water rights unit attorney for the Navajo Nation, testified on behalf of Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren and urged passage. He described the scope of need: "Our nation spans over 27,000 square miles across Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. And many of our citizens live in remote areas without access to clean drinking water." Witherspoon called the cost-share requirement a key obstacle: "The Water Smart Access for Tribes would address this hardship by allowing the Secretary of the Interior to waive the non Federal cost share requirements, increasing the likelihood that tribes, like the Navajo Nation, will be able to access the critical funding."

Stansbury and Witherspoon provided figures during testimony: Stansbury said "across the Navajo Nation, it is estimated that 30 to 40 percent of Dine homes do not have access to running water," and Witherspoon told the subcommittee that roughly "30 percent of our Navajo households lack clean, reliable drinking water," and that tribal communities often lack a tax base to meet matching requirements.

Witnesses and members discussed capacity constraints on tribal governments to prepare grant applications and the cumulative infrastructure needs that remain after decades of underinvestment. Witherspoon urged continued progress on larger water rights settlements in addition to expanding grant access.

Committee members asked for follow-up on how many grants tribes have received historically and what administrative support could improve tribal access. No formal action occurred during the hearing; members left the record open for written questions and encouraged interbranch coordination on tribal water settlements and grant outreach.

Ending: Sponsors and tribal representatives asked the subcommittee to advance the bill and to pursue tribal water settlements in parallel as a larger, complementary solution to long-standing infrastructure shortfalls.