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Winters And Water Conservation: A Proposal To Halt “Water Laundering” In Tribal Negotiated Settlements In Favor Of Monetary Compensation, Jesse H. Alderman

Jesse H Alderman

In the century since the U.S. Supreme Court, in Winters v. United States, granted Indian tribes reserved water rights, few tribes have received the promised delivery of water, while at the same time, the Department of Interior—the same agency tasked with a fiduciary duty to hold all tribal assets in trust—constructed massive, multibillion-dollar water projects without cognizance of senior Indian rights. The water transformed much of the West, from arid desert to a green expanse of farmland and steel-and-mirrored urban centers with populations rivaling cities in the water-rich East. However, the rapacious pace of development has placed unsustainable strain on …