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Water Rights

Water rights are one of, if not the single, most important right that many tribes have yet to exercise. The 1908 Supreme Court decision in Winters v. United States set forth the legal foundation that encompasses nearly all tribes: that when the government established a reservation, it implicitly reserved a quantity of water to fulfill the purposes of the reservation, creating a reserved water right. Basically, this gave the tribe a priority date as the date the reservation was established, typically the earliest such date on the surface water body, and gives the tribe first priority to the water, regardless of when the right is exercised. The outcome of this decision has been difficult for tribes however, as lengthy litigation in the courtroom, and, now, lengthy settlement processes are negatively impacting water development for Indian tribes.

Documents

•  2008 House of Representatives Oversight Hearing on Indian Water Rights Settlements

• NCAI Testimony before Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Hearing on Water Supply Issues in the Arid West (3/9/2004)

Links

• EPA Tribal Water Quality Standards and Criteria

National Congress of American Indians (NCAI)
1301 Connecticut Ave NW, Suite 200, Washington D.C. 20036
Phone: (202) 466-7767, Fax: (202) 466-7797
Email: ncai@ncai.org

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