,i  #aacth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #acgg  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,march #ba1 #bjac    
,mr4 ,pearce 7for himself1 ,ms4         
,michelle ,lujan ,grisham of ,new       
,mexico1 and ,mr4 ,ben ,ray ,lujn of    
,new ,mexico7 introduced the following  
bill2 which was referred to the         
,committee on ,natural ,resources  ,a   
,,bill  ,to authorize the ,mescalero    
,apache ,tribe to lease adjudicated     
water rights4  #a4 ,short title ,this   
,act may be cited as the ,mescalero     
,apache ,tribe ,leasing ,authorization  
,act4  #b4 ,definitions ,in this ,act3  
7#a7 ,adjudicated water rights ,the term
 adjudicated water rights means water   
rights that were adjudicated to the     
,tribe in ,state v4 ,lewis1 #aaf ,n4,m4 
#aid1 #hfa ,p4 #b;d #bce 7#aiic74  7#b7 
,secretary ,the term ,secretary means   
the ,secretary of the ,interior4  7#c7  
,state ,the term ,state means the ,state
 of ,new ,mexico4  7#d7 ,tribe ,the term
 ,tribe means the ,mescalero ,apache    

,tribe4  #c4 ,authorization to lease    
adjudicated water rights  7a7 ,in       
general ,notwithstanding any other      
provision of law1 subject to subsections
 7b7 and 7c71 the ,tribe may lease1     
enter into a contract with respect to1  
or otherwise transfer to another party1 
for another purpose1 or to another place
 of use in the ,state1 all or any       
portion of the adjudicated water rights4
  7b7 ,state law ,in carrying out any   
action under subsection 7a71 the ,tribe 
shall comply with all laws 7including   
regulations7 of the ,state with respect 
to the leasing or transfer of water     
rights4  7c7 ,alienation2 maximum term  
7#a7 ,alienation ,the ,tribe shall not  
permanently alienate any adjudicated    
water rights4  7#b7 ,maximum term ,the  
term of any water use lease1 contract1  
or other agreement under this section   
7including a renewal of such an         
agreement7 shall be not more than #ii   
years4  7d7 ,liability ,the ,secretary  
shall not be liable to the ,tribe or any

 other person for any loss or other     
detriment resulting from a lease1       
contract1 or other arrangement entered  
into pursuant to this section4  7e7     
,purchases or grants of land from       
,indians ,the authorization provided by 
this ,act for the leasing1 contracting1 
and transfer of the adjudicated water   
rights shall be considered to satisfy   
any requirement for authorization of the
 action by treaty or convention imposed 
by section #baaf of the ,revised        
,statutes 7#be ,u4,s4,c4 #agg74  7f7    
,prohibition on forfeiture ,the nonuse  
of all or any portion of the adjudicated
 water rights by a lessee or contractor 
shall not result in the forfeiture1     
abandonment1 relinquishment1 or other   
loss of all or any portion of the       
adjudicated water rights4