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The Historical Evolution Of The Methodology For Quantifying Federal Reserved Instream Water Rights For American Indian Tribes, Dylan R. Hedden-Nicely

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From the earliest days of their relationship with the United States, the tribes from the region today referred to as the Northwestern United States have been steadfast in their effort to protect the land, waters, plants, and animals of their traditional homelands. That effort is not coincidental; North America's indigenous people have a singular relationship to the environment they have been a part of for millennia. In particular, they have relied on the streams of their territory for food, fiber, transportation, recreation, cultural, and spiritual sustenance. As a result, through litigation, restoration, and conservation management, tribes have focused on maintaining …

Indigenous Rights And Climate Change: The Influence Of Climate Change On The Quantification Of Reserved Instream Water Rights For American Indian Tribes, Dylan R. Hedden-Nicely

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The people indigenous to the Western portion of the lands now referred to as North America have relied on aquatic species for physical, cultural, and spiritual sustenance for millennia. Such indigenous peoples, referred to in the American legal system as Indian tribes, are entitled to water rights for fish habitat pursuant to the Winters Doctrine, which holds that the federal government impliedly reserved water rights for tribes when reservations were created. Recently, the methodology for quantifying these rights has been the Instream Flow Incremental Methodology (IFIM) and/or one of its major components, the Physical Habitat Simulation Model (PHABSIM). These models …

The Contemporary Methodology For Quantifying Reserved Instream Flow Water Rights To Support Aquatic Habitat, Dylan R. Hedden-Nicely

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Since time immemorial, indigenous people have relied on the streams of their territory for food, fiber, transportation, recreation, cultural, and spiritual needs. Accordingly, tribal people-particularly those in the region now called the Northwestern United States-placed singular emphasis on preserving their traditional subsistence culture when negotiating with the United States during the reservation era. Although rarely expressed in these treaties, the tribes are nonetheless entitled to water rights sufficient to fulfill these traditional subsistence treaty rights. Of the suite of water rights to maintain traditional uses of water, likely the most commonly claimed is for water to maintain fish habitat. A …

Indigenous Water Justice, Barbara Cosens

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Indigenous Peoples are struggling for water justice across the globe. These struggles stem from centuries-long, ongoing colonial legacies and hold profound significance for Indigenous Peoples’ socioeconomic development, cultural identity, and political autonomy and external relations within nation-states. Ultimately, Indigenous Peoples’ right to self- determination is implicated. Growing out of a symposium hosted by the University of Colorado Law School and the Native American Rights Fund in June 2016, this Article expounds the concept of “indigenous water justice” and advocates for its realization in three major trans- boundary river basins: the Colorado (U.S./Mexico), Columbia (Canada/U.S.), and Murray-Darling (Australia). The Article begins …

The Legislative History Of The Mccarran Amendment: An Effort To Determine Whether Congress Intended For State Court Jurisdiction To Extend To Indian Reserved Water Rights, Dylan R. Hedden-Nicely

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The year 1976 marked a sea change in federal policy regarding the treatment of American Indian tribes and their water rights. In that year, the Supreme Court of the United States was called upon to determine the scope of the McCarran Amendment, a rider on a federal appropriations bill that waived the sovereign immunity of the United States in state court general stream adjudications "where it appears that the United States is the owner or is in the process of acquiring water rights by appropriation under State law, by purchase, by exchange, or otherwise." The Supreme Court, in what has …

Water Rights, Water Quality, And Regulatory Jurisdiction In Indian Country, Robert T. Anderson

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In the seminal Indian water rights case, Winters v. United Slates (1908), the Court posed this question: "The Indians had command of the lands and the waters-command of all their beneficial use, whether kept for hunting, 'and grazing roving herds of stock,' or turned to agriculture and the arts of civilization. Did they give up all this?" The Court's answer was no, and since then a large body of law has developed around Indian water rights, although the primary focus has been on the amount of water reserved for various tribal purposes. While Indian nations use property rights theories to …

Coeur D'Alene Tribe's Enduring Relation To Water -- A Legal History, Dylan R. Hedden-Nicely

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Coeur D'Alene Tribe's Claims In The Coeur D'Alene-Spokane River Basin Adjudication, Dylan R. Hedden-Nicely

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Indian Water Rights, Practical Reasoning, And Negotiated Settlements, Robert T. Anderson

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This Article first reviews the few Indian water rights cases that the U.S. Supreme Court has decided. The Article then traces a threshold issue common to Indian water rights litigation in the federal and state courts: how to determine the purposes of a reservation for which a reserved water right should be implied. A review of major Indian water rights cases demonstrates the generally confusing state of the law in significant respects, especially with regard to the "purposes" determination.

This Article posits that the relative uncertainty in this area has created an environment in which creative, practical solutions to conflicts …

Indian Water Rights And The Federal Trust Responsibility, Robert T. Anderson

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Although federal policy shifted from assimilation to pro-tribal positions, the federal courts have quite consistently supported Indian reserved water rights. Indian water rights, however, were neglected by Congress in favor of non-Indian agricultural development in the arid West. Modem litigation over tribal rights takes place primarily in state courts that are tempted to interpret the few U.S. Supreme Court cases in ways that protect existing non-Indian uses over senior tribal water rights. Modern Indian water rights settlements tend to protect existing non- Indian uses while providing substantial benefits for tribes, but in a haphazard manner. This article examines the history …

Indian Water Rights: Litigation And Settlements, Robert T. Anderson

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This article provides a brief overview of the law of Indian and federal reserved water rights and continues with an examination of the Snake River Water Rights Act. The Act serves as a vehicle for discussion of what is right and what is wrong with the current Indian water rights settlement process. Finally, the article suggests that the Administration modify the portion of its criteria and procedures for Indian water settlements dealing with federal financial contributions. These criteria and procedures need to more accurately reflect the realities of past settlements and promote more successes like the Snake River Water Rights …

2005 Indian Water Rights Settlement Conference Keynote Address, Barbara Cosens

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In September 2005, Native American Rights Fund and Western States Water Council brought the Indian Water Rights Settlement Conference to Moscow, Idaho. Native American Rights Fund is the oldest and largest nonprofit dedicated to asserting and defending Native American interests nationwide, and the Western States Water Council is composed of representatives appointed by the governors of eighteen western states, including Idaho. The conference brings together panel members representing tribal, state, federal agency, congressional, local, and environmental interests to discuss, argue, and at times resolve current issues facing the many efforts to settle Indian water rights in the western United States. …

Framework For Evaluation Of Tribal Water Settlements, Barbara Cosens

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Farmers, Fish, Tribal Power And Poker: Reallocating Water In The Truckee River Basin, Nevada And California, Barbara Cosens

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The Measure Of Indian Water Rights: The Arizona Homeland Standard, Gila River Adjudication, Barbara Cosens

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On November 26, 2001, the Arizona Supreme Court concluded that Indian reservations were established as homelands. By articulating a homeland standard for the measure of reserved water rights based on tribal economic development plans, cultural needs, and historic water uses, the Arizona Supreme Court has eliminated many of the blatant inequities plaguing the current approach to Indian water rights quantification. Nevertheless, there are concerns with wholesale adoption of the Arizona standard, including the effect on those who have devoted resources in reliance on the previous standard, the introduction of uncertainty in the method of quantification, and the impact on federal …

Judicial Termination Of Treaty Water Rights: The Snake River Case, Dale Goble

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The 1997 Water Rights Settlement Between The State Of Montana And The Chippewa Cree Tribe Of The Rocky Boy's Reservation: The Role Of Community And Of The Trustee, Barbara Cosens

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