Non-Indian federal-reserved water rights

Journal Article · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1981 · Denver Law J.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6123823

Waring, S L ^[1]; Samelson, K S

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1. Hall and Evans, Denver, CO

The federal reserved water rights doctrine is an entirely court-created concept first applied to an Indian reservation in Winters v. United States. In Winters, the United States Supreme Court held that when the federal government reserved the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in Montana, the government implicitly reserved enough water from the adjoining Milk River to allow the Indians to cultivate crops. Thus, the Court determined that acquisition of the water rights for the reservation was not governed by state law. This article examines the extension of the Winters v. United States doctrine to non-Indian federal reservations and considers some of the legal issues associated with this extension. The article describes some of the various types of federal reservations and their sources of authorization and includes a discussion of the applicability of the federal-reserved water rights doctrine to each reservation. Special attention is given to a 1979 opinion of the Solicitor of the Department of the Interior since this document represents the most comprehensive statement by the Solicitor on federal-reserved water rights. An examination of recent trends and developments, which suggest the declining fortunes of the doctrine of federal-reserved water rights, concludes the analysis. 160 references.

• OSTI ID: 6123823
• Journal Information: Denver Law J.; (United States), Journal Name: Denver Law J.; (United States) Vol. 58:4; ISSN DLJOD
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
LEGAL ASPECTS
PUBLIC LANDS
RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
RESOURCES
WATER RESOURCES
WATER RIGHTS