water rights

Water Pollution Regulations Ignore Native Community Fish Consumption

Adrea Korthase

Huffington Post article is here. An excerpt:

For many communities, the consequences also go beyond just health concerns.

“Traditional families are still very active in the smokehouse. They are still fishing for their primary source of living,” says Jamie Donatuto, an environmental specialist for the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, in La Conner, Wash. “Fish are not just a source of nutrients, they have cultural and spiritual meaning for these people.”

Donatuto has been working with the Swinomish tribe for more than a decade on the issue. She recently conducted a survey and found that if tribal members had access to as much safe seafood as they wanted, they would consume more than 100 times the state’s estimate.

“In the Pacific Northwest, fish consumption is a way of life. It’s an important cultural hallmark of tribal nations that live here,” adds Elaine Faustman, a professor of environmental and occupational health studies at the University of Washington.

In fact, as she points out, it’s not uncommon to find kids “teething on salmon jerky.”

Tenth Circuit Rejects Challenge to Water Rights Priority Determination in the Nambe-Pojoaque-Tesuque River System

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the unpublished opinion in State of New Mexico v. Gutierrez.

And the State’s brief: New Mexico Brief

Arizona State Water Law Conference Announcement

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Tenth Circuit Affirms Okla. Water Resources Board Decisions re: Red River (including MOU with Apache Tribe of Okla.)

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is today’s opinion in Tarrant Regional Water District v. Herrmann.

And the briefs:

Tarrant Opening Brief

Texas Amicus Brief Supporting Tarrant

Herrmann Answer Brief

Tarrant Reply

Herrmann June 29 2011 Supplemental Brief

Herrmann July 7 2011 Supplemental Brief

Tarrant Answer to Herrmann June 29 2011 Brief

Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations Sue Oklahoma over Water Rights Guaranteed by the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek

Matthew L.M. Fletcher3 Comments

Here is the complaint, Chickasaw Nation v. Fallin (W.D. Okla.):

Chickasaw & Choctaw Water Rights Complaint

And news articles in the NYTs here and here.

Michael Blumm on the Columbia River Gorge and the History of Natural Resources Law

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Michael Blumm posted his paper, “The Columbia River Gorge and the Development of American Natural Resources Law: A Century of Significance” at SSRN (H/t to Legal History Blog). Here is the abstract:

The Columbia River Gorge, site of the nation’s first national scenic area and the only near sea level passage through the Cascade Mountains, possesses the longest continuously occupied site of human habitation in North America. The Gorge has served as a major transportation corridor between the Pacific and the Great Basin for hundreds of years, is home to spectacular scenery, dozens of waterfalls, many sacred sites, and abundant recreational activities, including world-class kite boarding and wind surfing. The Gorge has also been the location of over a century of legal battles that have made major contributions to American natural resources law. From judicial interpretations of 19th Indian treaties, to the development of the largest interconnected hydroelectric system in the world, to ensuing declines in what were once the world’s largest salmon runs – ultimately resulting in endangered species listings – to innovative federal statutes concerning electric power planning and conservation and land use federalism, to compensation schemes for landowners burdened with regulation, to dam removal and conflicts between sea lions and salmon, the Gorge has spawned a legal history as rich as its geography. This article surveys these developments and suggests that no area of the country has produced more varied and significant contributions to natural resources law.

Arizona Appellate Court Rejects Yavapai-Apache Challenge to State Water Law

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the opinion in Yavapai-Apache Nation v. Fabritz-Whitney.

Only 27% of Canada’s First Nations’ Drinking Water Is Considered Safe

Peter Scott Vicaire

In a recent, independent study of water quality on reserves, it was determined that 39% of First Nations drinking water systems are at a “high” risk, while another 34% were deemed to be a “moderate” risk.  The report also concluded that 6 billion dollars would be needed to adequately address the issue.

Here’s the original story.

Tom Schlosser’s New Paper on Klamath River Hydroelectric Restoration Agreements

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Tom Schlosse’rs new article was published by the Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy: “Dewatering Trust Responsibility: The New Klamath River Hydroelectric and Restoration Agreements.” You can download it here.

Here is the abstract:

In order to protect Indian property rights to water and fish that Indians rely on for subsistence and moderate income, the Interior Department Solicitor has construed federal statutes and case law to conclude that the Department must restrict irrigation in the Klamath River Basin of Oregon and Northern California. Draft legislation, prescribed by the February 18, 2010 Klamath River Hydroelectric Agreement and the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, would release the United States from its trust duty to protect the rights of Indian tribes in the Klamath River Basin. The agreements will also prolong the Clean Water Act Section 401 application process to prevent the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission from issuing a properly-conditioned license for dams in the Klamath River that will protect the passage of vital fish populations. This article argues that the agreements prioritize the water rights of non-Indian irrigation districts and utility customers over first-in-time Indian water and fishing rights.

Pyramid Lake Opposition to Truckee-Carson Irrigation Dist. Motion to Re-open Water Case

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

Pyramid Lake Motion.

In honor of Navajo’s Rule 19 motion posted yesterday….