Transcript

David Getches: Getting water to Indian tribes

Ever since 1908, when the Supreme Court told us that there was such a thing as Indian reserved water rights, people in the west have known that on rivers where there are Indian reservations, there is an unmet claim for water. Notwithstanding that, over the years the federal investments in water on those same rivers went primarily for the benefits of non-Indians. The difficulty now is getting water to Indian tribes, having it reallocated if you will in a way that is not extraordinarily disruptive to existing uses. And that can happen in court. You mentioned the McCarran Amendment, where Congress said the federal government has got to come into State court to claim its water rights, including those water rights held by Indian tribes where the US as trustee represents the tribes. That is one way to do it, to litigate these claims. Another way is through negotiation. Usually it takes both, a lawsuit in State court and then a negotiation process that spins off a workable solution where all the parties come to the table, Indian and non-Indian. Congress typically steps in to help lubricate the settlement with financial resources, money.

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