water rights – Page 18

After reaching water rights settlements, a number of Native American tribes find themselves with rights to more water than their reservations or pueblo communities presently need. As climate change exacerbates drought conditions in the western United States and demand for water increases, some tribes have leased these surplus water rights to public and private, non-Indian, users. Theoretically, this could be a boon for tribes, although the extent of the economic impact of water leasing is difficult to assess without an examination of each individual water lease. This paper attempts to illustrate the economic impact of Indian water rights leasing anecdotally, by examining the leasing efforts of one particularly successful tribe, the Jicarilla Apache Nation in northern New Mexico.

Reply Briefs in Agua Caliente Water Rights Case

January 12, 2015Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here are the new materials in Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians v. Coachella Valley Water District (C.D. Cal.):

2015-01-09 – Dkt 104 – US Reply in Support of Phase I Motion for Summary Judgment

2015-01-09 – Dkt 105 – CVWD Reply to Opp by ACBCI to CVWD Phase I Motion for Summary Judgment

2015-01-09 – Dkt 106 – CVWD Reply to Opp vy US to CVWD Phase I Motion for Summary Judgment

2015-01-09 – Dkt 107 – DWA Reply to ACBCI Opposition to DWA Motion for Summary Judgment

2015-01-09 – Dkt 108 – DWA Reply to US Opposition to DWA Motion for Summary Judgment

2015-01-09 – Dkt 109 – ACBCI Reply to DWA Brief in Opp to ACBCI Motions for Summary Judgment on Phase I Issues

2015-01-09 – Dkt 110 – ACBCI Reply to CVWD Brief in Opp to ACBCI Motions for Summary Judgment on Phase I Issues

Response briefs are here.

Opening briefs are here.

Morning Edition on Access to Water at Navajo Nation

January 6, 2015Kate Fort

Here.

New Scholarship in Wyoming’s Big Horn River General Stream Adjudication

January 4, 2015Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Jason Robison has posted his forthcoming paper, “Wyoming’s Big Horn General Stream Adjudication, 1977-2014,” on SSRN. It is forthcoming in the Wyoming Law Review.

An excerpt:

Aimed at addressing water rights in the State of Wyoming’s portion of the Wind/Big Horn Basin, including those held by the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapahoe tribes on the Wind River Indian Reservation, the Big Horn general stream adjudication is currently poised to draw to a close after 37 years. This article offers an overview of this complex and often contentious legal proceeding, relying mainly on primary sources contained in a digital archive, and situates the adjudication within the broader context of western water law.