1. Bureau of Indian Affairs
Office of Trust Services
Division of Water and Power
WATER INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS FOR THE NATION (WIIN) ACT OF 2016 Title III Subtitle A, Indian Dam Safety Subtitle B, Irrigation

2. PURPOSE OF THE WIIN ACT
The purpose of the Water Infrastructure Improvement for the Nation (WIIN) Act, Title III, Subtitles A and B is to improve the infrastructure of Indian Country by helping to reduce the deferred maintenance at high- and low-hazard potential Indian dams and specific Indian irrigation projects.
History leading up to the WIIN Act: (Irrigation)
Recent congressional interest (Senate Committee on Indian Affairs - SCIA) in improving irrigation infrastructure dates back to a 2003 Town Hall meeting in Billings MT hosted by then Senator Conrad Burns and Congressman Rehberg of Montana where they met with Montana tribes to discuss issues and concerns. This culminated in an additional $15 million dollars over 2 years in for projects in the Rocky Mountain Region.
The GAO Audit of Indian Irrigation in 2006 provided guidance for numerous program needs. The BIA Irrigation Program has accomplished many of those findings since 2006 regarding asset management including:
Inventory and GPS mapping of all irrigation assets
Engineering Evaluations (Condition Assessments) of all Projects, documenting Deferred Maintenance.
Cost indexing of all Deferred Maintenance estimates to 2016 costs (more on later slide)
Training of local staff in Water Management and Water Measurement
Modernization Studies
Senate Committee on Indian Affairs passed the Irrigation Rehabilitation and Renovation for Indian Tribal Governments and Their Economies Act” or the “IRRIGATE Act” out of Committee in 2015, but it didn’t make it to the floor of Congress. This would have provided $35M annually for 22 years for a total of $770M
All of this past work has culminated with the passage of the WIIN Act in 2016, which includes a five year authorization for infrastructure improvements across the nation, including Indian irrigation projects, but unfortunately without specific funding appropriations.
DEFERRED MAINTENANCE DEFINITION: means any maintenance activity that was delayed to a future date, in lieu of being carried out at the time at which the activity was scheduled to be, or otherwise should have been, carried out.

3. FUNDS AVAILABILITY
For each of fiscal years 2017 through 2023, the Secretary of the Treasury shall deposit
$22.75 million in the high-hazard dam deferred maintenance Fund and
$10 million in the low-hazard dam deferred maintenance Fund.
For each of fiscal years 2017 through 2021, the Secretary of the Treasury shall deposit in an Irrigation Fund $35 million from the general fund of the Treasury.
The Act creates and funds a Treasury Account subject to appropriation and may require offsets.
Amounts deposited in the Funds shall be used, subject to appropriation, to carry out these subtitles.
Given the current budget cycle, BIA’s earliest opportunity to request this funding is during the fiscal year 2019 budget formulation.
Emphasize the following:
Act ONLY creates and funds a Treasury Account
But that account is “subject to appropriations”
May require offsets to DOI and/or BIA budgets
If funds do become available, funds shall only be spent on eligible Indian irrigation projects.

4. WIIN ACT SCHEDULE Date Activity December 10, 2016
WIIN Act passes Senate/House, Referred to President for signature
December 16, 2016
President signed the WIIN Act into law
February 6-10, 2017
Tribal consultation sessions – combined Dam Safety & Irrigation (Billings, MT 2/6; Albuquerque, NM 2/8; Portland, OR 2/10)
February 13-17, 2017
Tribal and public outreach webinars – Dam Safety
February 13-27, 2017
Landowner and irrigator outreach – Irrigation (Billings, MT 2/15; Ignacio, CO 2/17; Phoenix, AZ 2/22; Portland, OR 2/23)
March 3, 2017
Comment deadline for tribes and landowners/irrigators
March 6-24, 2017
Review tribal comments and address in final reports
Consider landowner/irrigator input
April 14, 2017
Submit Report to Congress
December 16, 2017
Annual BIA Condition of Dams Report due to Congress
December 16, 2018
Study of Indian Irrigation Program and Project Management due to Congress
Biennial BIA Irrigation Status Report due to Congress
This table lists the important activities surrounding the WIIN Act that have occurred and will occur for both SOD and Irrigation.
All items through April 2017 have been completed.

5. BIA SAFETY OF DAMS PROGRAM
Established under the Indian Dams Safety Act of 1994, Public Law No , 25 U.S.C. § 3801
Manages the dams located on Indian lands within the U.S., with special emphasis on those dams that would pose a threat to human life
Black Rock Dam –
Zuni Reservation
Lower Two Medicine Dam - Blackfeet Reservation

6. BIA SAFETY OF DAMS PROGRAM
138 high haz dams
42 reservations
This map shows all the high-hazard dams currently in our program. The WIIN Act, if funded will provide funding for all Tribes which have dams on Indian lands. There are hundreds if not thousands of dams which have not been discovered or have gone unclassified to date and are located all across America. The WIIN Act could provide millions of dollars to Tribes with dams and Tribes whom have still yet to find and discover these dams. The WIIN Act could potentially provide many Tribes with economic benefits and could create many job opportunities on reservations through the passage of this new legislation.
BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS OFFICE OF TRUST SERVICES

7. INDIAN DAM SAFETY SUBTITLE KEY POINTS
Prioritize deferred maintenance projects based on specified criteria and tribal consultation.
Submit a report outlining programmatic goals and prioritization of projects to Congress (completed).
Establish a tribal committee to recommend legislation to modernize the Indian Dams Safety Act of 1994.
Conduct a floodplain management pilot program.
Submit annual BIA Condition of Dams Report to Congress.
Every 180 days the tribes will report an inventory of dams on their land to the Secretary of the Interior.
If the WIIN ACT is funded, can help fund Tribes in performing data collection of their dam inventory every 180 days on their land to report this data to the Secretary of the Interior.

8. FUNDING PRIORITY CRITERIA
Threat to public safety; natural or cultural resources; and the ability to operate the dam
Ability to improve safety, health, or accessibility; legal and code compliance; provide unmet needs; and improve protection of natural or cultural resources
Existing priority
Potential uses and economic benefits
Current flood protection
Indian Dams Safety Act of 1994 compliant
Future flood protection potential
Additional factors recommended
Number of tribes served by the dam
Population served by the dam
This is the list of factors to consider when determining the funding priority of an eligible dam.

9. FUNDING PRIORITY CRITERIA WEIGHTING
Potential Uses and Economic Benefits (50%)
The most important criteria when determining funding for the high-hazard potential dams is the threat to public safety. The methodology the BIA developed places 75% of the weight on that factor.
For the low-hazard dams, there is no risk to public safety. The factor with the highest weight for the low-hazard potential dams is the potential uses and economic benefits, which composes 50% of the total weighting.

10. BIA IRRIGATION PROGRAM
Manages 17 Congressionally Authorized Irrigation Projects of which 15 are revenue generating
~$35M in receipts annually
>$960M in gross crop revenues annually
additional $670 million of indirect benefit
~780,000 acres serviced
6,300 miles of canals
more than 52,000 irrigation structures
The total deferred maintenance reported in 2016 was $630 million
The total deferred maintenance estimate will increase in the Q report based on the results of the indexing study. Completed Condition Assessment studies ranged from 2006 to 2016, so the indexing will bring all cost estimates to 2016 dollars.
In an August 2016 economic study commissioned by the BIA, the Bureau of Reclamation concluded that irrigated lands served by the seventeen Indian irrigation projects produce in excess of $960 million (2013 dollars) in gross crop revenues annually with an additional $670 million of indirect benefit, for a total economic benefit of approximately $1.6 billion annually

11. Office of Trust Services
Eligible Irrigation Projects:
Navajo Region
Navajo Indian Irrigation Project
Northwest Region
Flathead Indian Irrigation Project
Fort Hall Indian Irrigation Project
Wapato Indian Irrigation Project
Rocky Mountain Region
Blackfeet Indian Irrigation Project
Crow Indian Irrigation Project
Fort Belknap Indian Irrigation Project
Fort Peck Indian Irrigation Project
Wind River Indian Irrigation Project
Southwest Region
Pine River Indian Irrigation Project
Western Region
Colorado River Indian Irrigation Project
Duck Valley Indian Irrigation Project
Pyramid Lake Indian Irrigation Project
San Carlos Irrigation Project - Indian Works (SCIP-IW), Gila River Indian Community
San Carlos Irrigation Project - Joint Works (SCIP-JW)
Uintah Indian Irrigation Project
Walker River Indian Irrigation Project
Office of Trust Services

12. IRRIGATION PROJECT ELIGIBILITY
Indian irrigation project eligibility requirements:
Must be owned by the Federal Government
Must be managed and operated by BIA or Tribe through a Public Law contract, or through a compact
Must have deferred maintenance documented by BIA
Per WIIN Act, funding priority given to:
Eligible Indian irrigation projects serving more than 1 Indian Tribe within an Indian Reservation
Projects without a “settlement” in the past 10-years
These requirements are straight from the WIIN Act. Per the WIIN Act, the eligibility criteria are evaluated based on status at enactment.
The Act mandates the BIA Projects serving more than one (1) tribe would receive a higher priority:
Wind River Indian Irrigation Project - Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes of the Wind River Reservation
We relied on the current Federally Recognized Tribes listing for this determination (“Federal Register Notice of Indian Entities Recognized and Eligible to Receive Services from the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs (81 Fed. Reg ), which is the official listing of all federally recognized tribes in the United States, pursuant to the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (Pub. L , 108 Stat ).”)
Projects that had funding made available for the same purpose as the WIIN Act from December 15, 2006 through December 15, 2016 are mandated to receive a lower priority:
Crow Indian Irrigation Project
Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act of 2010, Public Law , signed into law on December 8th, 2010.
Duck Valley Indian Irrigation Project
2009 Omnibus Public Land Management Act (H.R. 146, 111th Congress)
San Carlos Irrigation Project - Indian Works
San Carlos Irrigation Project - Joint Works
Arizona Water Settlements Act 118 STAT PUBLIC LAW 108–451—DEC. 10, 2004

13. IRRIGATION SUBTITLE KEY POINTS
Prioritize deferred maintenance projects based on specified criteria and tribal consultation.
Submit a report outlining programmatic goals and prioritization of projects to Congress (completed).
Conduct a study of the Indian irrigation program and project management (started) 
Submit a Status Report to Congress within 2 years of enactment, and every 2 years following.
For the study of the Indian irrigation program and project management:
- Report submitted 2 years after enactment (Dec 2018)
- BIA will be seeking input from tribes via interviews
- BIA is using Program Funds for these activities, not waiting on WIIN Act funding to initiate
The Status report every 2 years refers to documenting rehabilitation accomplishments of features with deferred maintenance

14. REHABILITATION FUNDS DISTRIBUTION CRITERIA
Ability of the nominated feature to resolve or improve health and safety issues
Type of work needed
Rehabilitation Priority Index
Deficiency Category Ranking
Criticality of fixing the identified feature
Funding amount
Should funding become available, BIA intends to work cooperatively with tribes and irrigators to more specifically identify rehabilitation efforts within each project, discussing priorities collaboratively and attempting to establish common goals.
Work will be offered to tribes under P.L Subpart J (Construction)/Compact thru Self-Governance

15. WIIN ACT IMPLEMENTATION SUPPORT
Condition Assessment Studies
Estimate deferred maintenance for each project
Modernization Studies and Rapid Assessments
Goal to examine the operational elements of BIA irrigation projects with the objective to improve resource utilization and water delivery service
Water Measurement Support
Provide water measurement training to project staff to teach the technical skills necessary ensure appropriate delivery of Tribes’ water rights
Condition Assessment Studies
Deferred maintenance estimates were developed from contracted Condition Assessment Studies
The total deferred maintenance reported in 2016 was $630 million.
A study has been completed that indexed all Condition Assessment deferred maintenance estimates to 2016 dollars, and will be included in the 2017 Deferred Maintenance reports
Condition Assessment studies have been completed between 2006 and 2016 for all 17 Irrigation Projects
Modernization Studies –
Goal to look at the operational elements of BIA irrigation projects with the objective to improve resource utilization and water delivery service
evaluate the major and minor structures within the Project to determine if they serve the current needs or if an alternative structure would be more appropriate
Modernization studies conducted by Cal Poly’s Irrigation Training and Research Center (ITRC) staff:
Wind River and Flathead Irrigation Projects completed in April 2016
ongoing at Wapato and NIIP with a completion date of May 2017
The BIA will contract for a Rapid Assessment Process evaluation at the projects who haven’t received a settlement in the past 10 years to provide rehabilitation priorities with proper structure design
Water Measurement Support –
The BIA is committed to improving the technical skills of the staff responsible for water delivery operations at BIA Irrigation Projects. Water measurement is a key skill to ensure appropriate delivery of the Tribes’ water rights.
The BIA has completed water measurement trainings facilitated by Cal Poly’s ITRC for BIA and Tribal 638 staff from the follow projects:
Navajo Region: Navajo Indian Irrigation Project
Northwest Region: Flathead, Fort Hall, and Wapato Indian Irrigation Projects
Rocky Mountain Region: Blackfeet and Wind River Indian Irrigation Projects
Southwest Region: Pine River Indian Irrigation Project
Western Region: Colorado River, San Carlos Irrigation Project, Uintah, and Walker River Indian Irrigation Projects.
The BIA plans to provide training at the remaining projects over the next two years