Recognizing the critical importance of access to reliable, clean drinking water for Native Americans and Alaska Natives and confirming the responsibility of the Federal Government to ensure such water access.

access to reliable, clean drinking water in Tribal communities and in Alaska Native Villages is an essential human need, is critical to the health, well-being, and economic development of people living on such communities and in such villages, and is integral to maintaining the public health of the entire United States;

settlement or adjudication of Tribal claims of reserved water rights is not and should not be a prerequisite to the provision of this basic human service to households located in Tribal communities and in Alaska Native Villages, nor should the provision of such basic human services be used to leverage the resolution of Tribal reserved water rights and claims; and

the provision of reliable, clean drinking water to support the domestic requirements of Tribal members and Tribal communities is an essential component of the Federal trust responsibility to Indian Tribes; and

calls upon the Federal Executive Branch to work in collaboration with Tribal governments and with any relevant State and local jurisdictions to expedite the planning, design, development, and operation of the infrastructure necessary to provide reliable, clean drinking water in Tribal communities and in Alaska Native Villages, and to inform Congress of further authorizations and expenditures that may be necessary to meet this objective;

calls upon the Federal Executive Branch to employ a “whole of government” approach to ensure the provision of reliable, clean drinking water to households in Tribal communities and in Alaska Native Villages and to create an interagency task force consisting of high-level representatives from departments and agencies with authority to provide water infrastructure that will work to remove barriers, optimize funding, and make immediate and tangible progress on meeting this objective and report annually to Congress on such progress; and

calls upon the Federal Executive Branch, State governments, and affected water agencies to affirmatively support de-coupling the planning, design, development, and operation of such infrastructure from the settlement or adjudication of Tribal reserved water rights, and to support the development of that infrastructure necessary to provide reliable, clean drinking water in Tribal communities independent of such settlements or adjudications.