Water Law Commons^™

Hualapai Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act Of 2022, United States 117th Congress

Native American Water Rights Settlement Project

The purposes of this Act are—(1) to resolve, fully and finally, all claims to rights to water in the State, including the Verde River, the Bill Williams River, and the Colorado River, of— (A) the Hualapai Tribe, on behalf of the Hualapai Tribe and the members of the Hualapai Tribe; and (B) the United States, acting as trustee for the Hualapai Tribe, the members of the Hualapai Tribe, and the allottees; (2) to authorize, ratify, and confirm the Hualapai Tribe water rights settlement agreement, to the extent that agreement is consistent with this Act; (3) to authorize and direct the …

White Mountain Apache Tribe Water Rights Quantification Act, United States 117th Congress

Native American Water Rights Settlement Project

The purpose of this amendment to the White Mountain Apache Tribe Water Rights Quantification Act of 2010 is to extend the enforceability date for the deadline for publication of the statement of findings to December 30, 2027 with a repeal date of December 31, 2027 of Title III of the Act for failure to meet the revised deadline. Certain provisions include clarifying funding, cost indexing, cost overrun subaccount (increase in authorized appropriations and prohibition), use of funds (expenditures), oversight and accounting, and other purposes.

Colorado River Indian Tribes Water Resiliency Act Of 2022, United States 117th Congress

Native American Water Rights Settlement Project

This Act authorizes the Colorado River Indian Tribes to enter into lease or exchange agreements and storage agreements relating to water of the Colorado River allocated to the Colorado River Indian Tribes, and for other purposes.

Montana Water Rights Protection Act, United States 116th Congress

Native American Water Rights Settlement Project

The purposes of this Act are: (1) to achieve a fair, equitable, and final settlement of claims to water rights in the State of Montana, and in recognition of article I, and section 3 of article IX, of the Montana State Constitution for (A) the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Indian Reservation; and (B) the United States, for the benefit of the Tribes and allottees; (2) to authorize, ratify, and confirm the water rights compact entered into by the Tribes and the State, to the extent that the Compact is consistent with this Act; (3) to authorize …

Navajo-Utah Water Rights Settlement Act, United States 116th Congress

Native American Water Rights Settlement Project

The purposes of this section are: (1) to achieve a fair, equitable, and final settlement of all claims to water rights in the State of Utah for (A) the Navajo Nation and (B) the United States, for the benefit of the Nation; (2) to authorize, ratify, and confirm the agreement entered into by the Nation and the State, to the extent that the agreement is consistent with this section; (3) to authorize and direct the Secretary (A) to execute the agreement and (B) to take any actions necessary to carry out the agreement in accordance with this section; and (4) …

Aamodt Litigation Settlement Completion, United States 116th Congress

Native American Water Rights Settlement Project

Amends the Aamodt Litigation Settlement Act (Pub. L. 11-291) to increase funding for Pueblo Water Facilities from $106.4 million to $243.4 million and making available $137 million for Regional Water System funding.

Red River, White Law, Laura Spitz

Faculty Scholarship

No matter how well-intended, advocates reaching for personhood on behalf of rivers in the United States must think carefully about how to meaningfully engage the Indigenous peoples directly affected, or risk continuing practices of colonization. In that sense, the Colorado River case was a missed opportunity to contextualize the claim in terms of local Indigenous laws and cultures. Its dismissal provides an opportunity to reset and reach out before moving forward again.

Pueblo Indian Water Rights: Charting The Unknown, Richard W. Hughes

Natural Resources Journal

This article examines the so-far-unsuccessful efforts to judicially define and quantify the water rights appurtenant to the core land holdings of the 19 New Mexico Pueblos, many of whose lands straddle the Rio Grande. It explains that the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals has squarely held that Pueblo water rights are governed by federal, not state law, and are prior to those of any non-Indian appropriator, but also that the Tenth Circuit acknowledged that it could not say how those rights should be characterized. Part I of the article examines the course of the cases that have sought to achieve …

Valuing Sacred Tribal Waters Within Prior Appropriation, Michelle Bryan

Natural Resources Journal

Throughout the world water plays a central role in the spirituality of indigenous peoples. Focusing on the American West, this article first describes how tribal water needs touch upon the sacred and then explains how both federal law and state prior appropriation doctrine fail to adequately protect these important sacred views of water. Pivoting away from the classic federal law arguments, the article then advocates for an evolution in state water law regimes to provide yet unrecognized protections for tribal sacred waters. Because international law plays an increasing role in this issue, the article also explores case studies from Ireland, …

Pueblo Indian Water Rights: Charting The Unknown, Richard W. Hughes

Publications

This article examines the so-far-unsuccessful efforts to judicially define and quantify the water rights appurtenant to the core land holdings of the 19 New Mexico Pueblos, many of whose lands straddle the Rio Grande. It explains that the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals has squarely held that Pueblo water rights are governed by federal, not state law, and are prior to those of any non-Indian appropriator, but also that the Tenth Circuit acknowledged that it could not say how those rights should be characterized. Part I of the article examines the course of the cases that have sought to achieve …

Biagaweit: Securing Water From The Mighty River In The Snake River Basin Adjudication, Jeanette Wolfley

Faculty Scholarship

This symposium article describes the Shoshone and Bannock peoples journey to quantify their water rights in the SRBA. It begins with the Shoshone-Bannock Tribal cultural perspective on water and water rights. It then discusses the concept of tribal homelands and the water required and necessary for sustaining a tribally reserved home as guaranteed in the Fort Bridger Treaty of 1868, including a discussion of the Winters doctrine which affirms the treaty's promises. It concludes with a review of the Fort Hall Indian Water Rights Agreement. 'Biagaweit' is the Shoshone word for the Snake River. The mighty Snake River begins its …

You Gotta Fight For The Right To Vote: Enfranchising Native American Voters, Jeanette Wolfley

Faculty Scholarship

Five decades ago, the Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Since its passage, the Voting Right Act has created the opportunity to vote for many racial and language minorities across the country, and has survived many challenges until 2013. The U.S. Supreme Court issued two decisions involving voting rights in its 2012-2013 term. On June 25, 2013, in Shelby County v. Holder, a divided Supreme Court struck down Section 4 - a key provision of the 1965 Voting Right Act (VRA) - as unconstitutional. On June 17, 2013, one week before the Shelby County decision, the Court decided …

Spring 2015 Utton Center Newsletter, Utton Center, University Of New Mexico - School Of Law

Publications

No abstract provided.

Optimizing Reservoir Operations To Adapt To 21st Century Expectations Of Climate And Social Change In The Willamette River Basin, Oregon, Kathleen M. Moore

Publications

Reservoir systems in the western US are managed to serve two main competing purposes: to reduce flooding during the winter and spring, and to provide water supply for multiple uses during the summer. Because the storage capacity of a reservoir cannot be used for both flood damage reduction and water storage at the same time, these two uses are traded off as the reservoir fills during the transition from the wet to the dry season. Climate change, population growth, and development in the western US may exacerbate dry season water scarcity and increase winter flood risk, creating a need to …

As Long As The Water Shall Flow: Bringing Water To Tribal Homelands, Jeanette Wolfley

Faculty Scholarship

Only the first page is uploaded. Please contact the UNM Law Library on accessing the full text.

Acknowledgment Of Supporters, Utton Center, University Of New Mexico - School Of Law

Water Matters!

List of supporters.

Bill Williams River Water Rights Settlement Act Of 2014, United States 113th Congress

Native American Water Rights Settlement Project

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to enter into the Big Sandy River-Planet Ranch Water Rights Settlement Agreement and the Hualapai Tribe Bill Williams River Water Rights Settlement Agreement, to provide for the lease of certain land located within Planet Ranch on the Bill Williams River in the State of Arizona to benefit the Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program, and to provide for the settlement of specific water rights claims in the Bill Williams River watershed in the State of Arizona.

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe - Fish Springs Ranch Settlement Act, United States 113th Congress

Native American Water Rights Settlement Project

The overall purpose of this Act is to ratify a water settlement agreement affecting the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, and for other purposes.

The End Of Sustainability, Melinda Harm Benson, Robin Kundis Craig

Publications

No abstract provided.

The End Of Sustainability, Melinda Harm Benson, Robin Kundis Craig

Publications

It is time to move past the concept of sustainability. The realities of the Anthropocene warrant this conclusion. They include unprecedented and irreversible rates of human-induced biodiversity loss, exponential increases in per-capita resource consumption, and global climate change. These factors combine to create an increasing likelihood of rapid, nonlinear, social and ecological regime changes. The recent failure of the Rio +20 provides an opportunity to collectively reexamine--and ultimately move past--the concept of sustainability as an environmental goal. We must face the impossibility of defining--let alone pursuing--a goal of "sustainability" in a world characterized by such extreme complexity, radical uncertainty and …

Managing Complex Water Resource Systems For Ecological Integrity: Evaluating Tradeoffs And Uncertainty, Richard Morrison

Publications

Water resource systems often contain numerous components that are intertwined or even contradictory, such as power production, water delivery, recreation, and environmental needs. This complexity makes it difficult to holistically assess management alternatives. In addition, hydro climatic and ecological uncertainties complicate efforts to evaluate the impacts of management scenarios. We need new tools that are able to inform managers and researchers of the tradeoffs or consequences associated with flow alternatives, while also explicitly incorporating sources of uncertainty. My research addresses this limitation using two modeling approaches: stochastic system dynamics modeling and Bayesian network modeling. I developed a stochastic system dynamics …

Spring 2014 Utton Center Newsletter, Utton Center, University Of New Mexico - School Of Law

Publications

No abstract provided.

Developing The Law Of The River: The Integration Of Law And Policy Into Hydrologic And Socio-Economic Modeling Efforts In The Willamette River Basin, Adell Louise Amos

Publications

A legal and policy infrastructure -- referred to as a "law of the river" -- exists for every river basin in the U.S. an can be as important as natural processes in terms of managing the future of the resource. Because of the way that water law and policy have evolved in the U.S., this infrastructure involves a matrix of state and federal law that governs the choices that policymakers, end users, and agencies make. This "law of the river" provides the context in which decisions are made and not made. It also draws the boundaries within which decision makers …

Jump In Before It's Too Late: Protecting And Increasing Streamflows In New Mexico, Sharon Wirth

Publications

Freshwater ecosystems need adequate streamflow to supply clean water for humans and maintain healthy habitat for wildlife. Over-appropriation, overuse, climate change, and drought plague New Mexico's rivers, taxing many rivers beyond sustainability. Despite the myriad of problems caused by little or no water in our rivers, policies and procedures to protect and increase streamflows in New Mexico are limited. While most Western states have made demonstrable progress in alleviating various legal and technical barriers to protecting and increasing streamflows, New Mexico has made only limited, recent progress towards solutions for our drying rivers. This article takes a critical look at …

Water Governance Challenges In New Mexico's Middle Rio Grande Valley: A Resilience Assessment, Melina Harm Benson, Dagmar Llewellyn, Ryan Morrison, Mark Stone

Publications

No abstract provided.

Tribal Environmental Programs: Providing Meaningful Involvement And Fair Treatment, Jeanette Wolfley

Faculty Scholarship

Tribal governments are developing and implementing federally authorized and/or approved tribal environmental programs in the areas of water quality, air quality, and solid waste. As part of this federal delegation process there are federal requirements relating to due process and fair treatment of the public and stakeholders who may be affected by the tribal environmental laws and regulations. This article explores and examines public participation and due process within the tribal context and proposes tribal institutions are in the best position to articulate the tribal cultural and social norms of public participation and fair treatment. It is through this process …

Adjudications, Brigette Buynak, Darcy S. Bushnell

Water Matters!

Adjudications are lawsuits that take place in state or federal court to resolve all claims to water use in the state of New Mexico, including those of Pueblos, tribes and the federal government. These cases are required by statute to create a formal inventory of water uses and to facilitate administration of New Mexico’s surface and groundwater. The geographic scope of each case is generally described by a stream system and occasionally by a groundwater basin. By statute, the State is always the plaintiff. The mission is to formally identify and recognize all valid water rights in each area being …

New Mexico Water Law Capsules, Stephanie Tsosie

Water Matters!

This article contains a list some of the key cases decided in the state and federal courts of New Mexico with very brief descriptions of the rulings. The finalized cases have been arranged by topic. This chapter is intended to be a quick and handy reference guide and not a thorough summary of the facts and law of each case. This year we have also included a list of water law statutes.

Drought, Adrian Oglesby

Water Matters!

New Mexico is renowned for its high deserts, mild climate, and abundant sunshine. Incidentally, these physical attributes, which make New Mexico so unique and beautiful, are also characteristic of a naturally dry environment. The state has been subjected to severe drought conditions in the past, alternating with times of uncharacteristically high supplies of moisture upon which its population has at times over-relied.

This article will provide various definitions of drought and a short history of drought in New Mexico; discuss impacts of drought on the state’s human water user communities and environment; discuss in brief the priority call and water …

Priority Administration, Ed Merta

Water Matters!

Since the turn of the twenty first century, drought conditions have frequently stricken much of New Mexico. Such intervals of extreme dryness have been a permanent, recurring feature of the state’s climate for at least two thousand years, according to tree ring data and other scientific evidence. Some of these past droughts lasted for decades, exceeding in severity the Dust Bowl of the 1930sand the great New Mexico drought of the 1950s. Today, climate change models indicate that the Southwest will likely become even hotter, potentially making future droughts in New Mexico more extreme. Managing water shortages promises to become …