U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M. introduced a package of water bills this week seeking again to resolve water-rights claims of the state's largest tribe on the San Juan River Basin and the claims of four pueblos along the Rio Grande.

The bills also would pay for a pipeline in Eastern New Mexico and help water managers better plan for the future. The package could be voted on as soon as Sunday.

The San Juan River legislation reflects a 2005 agreement between New Mexico and the Navajo Nation, and needs congressional approval. It recognizes approximately 600,000 acre-feet per year of water to the Navajo Nation It also authorizes federal funding for water pipelines to serve portions of the Navajo Nation and Gallup. The bill authorizes $870 million to construct the Navajo-Gallup Pipeline.

"Enacting this legislation would bring an end to years of litigation over water rights in the Four Corners area," Bingaman said.

"It is shameful that 70,000 people on the Navajo Nation, located in the wealthiest nation on earth, do not have easy access to water," said U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M.

Some farmers in Aztec and Bloomfield along the San Juan have continued to protest the water settlement between the state and the tribe.

Another bill in the package is one Bingaman and Udall introduced for the first time last year to improve the aging water infrastructure on pueblo lands along the Rio Grande.