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The Unsettling Of The West: How Indians Got The Best Water Rights, David H. Getches

Michigan Law Review

A single, century-old court decision affects the water rights of nearly everyone in the West. The Supreme Court's two-page opinion in Winters v. United States sent out shock waves that reverberate today. By formulating the doctrine of reserved water rights, the Court put Indian tribes first in line for water in an arid region. Priority is everything where water law typically dictates that the senior water rights holder is satisfied first, even if it means taking all the water and leaving none for anyone else. In the West, water rights belong to "prior appropriators." The earliest users of water secure …