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Policy Watchtower/Final rule

BIA finalizes 2027 irrigation rates; Flathead and Colorado River rise Jan. 1, 2027

Interior DepartmentBureau of ReclamationFinal ruleJul 30, 2026

Check: BIA set final 2027 irrigation assessment rates, effective January 1, 2027, and did not defer any proposed increase.

Read in the Federal Register

What it does

Tribes, tribal members, and other landowners or lessees in assessable acreage at BIA irrigation projects, or with a carriage agreement, will pay the new rates. Flathead basic per-acre rates rise from $39.00 to $46.00 (A) and from $19.50 to $23.00 (B), and its per-tract minimum charge rises from $200 to $220. The Colorado River basic rate rises from $85 to $93 per acre. Rates also rise at Fort Hall, Wapato, Pine River, Duck Valley, and Walker River, and the San Carlos Joint Works rate falls from $28.00 to $24.00. Rates for the Two Leggins, LeClair, and Riverton Valley districts and the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) component of the Yuma rate are not yet set.

Why it matters for tribal funding

Directly tribal. The document is about tribes, tribal programs or Native organizations specifically.

Who it covers: Tribal governments, Tribal enterprises.

What to do next

  1. Check the notice's rate table for your project's 2026 and 2027 rates and update 2027 water-cost budgets before January 1, 2027.
  2. Contact the BIA regional or project office listed in the notice's contact tables, or Leslie Underwood at (406) 657-5985, with questions about a specific project.
  3. Flathead landowners with parcels of 4.78 acres or smaller can review the Annual Assessment Waiver and non-assessable land designation applications described in the notice.

Sources

Every signal is built from public records. The highlighted words appear in the source exactly as shown.

  • Federal Register: tribal agenciesNoticeJul 30, 2026

    Rate Adjustments for Indian Irrigation Projects

    • Quoted from the source: “The 2027 Irrigation Assessment Rates are effective on January 1, 2027.”
    • Quoted from the source: “No, BIA did not defer any proposed rate increases.”
    • Quoted from the source: “BIA is retracting the proposed 2027 rates because the final budgets for 2027 have not yet been determined by the districts.”
    Read in the Federal RegisterU.S. government record, public domain.

Terms with a dotted underline open a plain-language definition. This is guidance, not legal advice: the official text always controls. A free public service from GrantsPath, a Native-owned business.