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The Winters Doctrine: Historical Perspective and Future Applications of Reserved Water Rights in Arizona
Author(s) -
Foster Kennith E.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
groundwater
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.84
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1745-6584
pISSN - 0017-467X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-6584.1978.tb03220.x
Subject(s) - supreme court , doctrine , adjudication , government (linguistics) , law , reservation , political science , water resources , eminent domain , law and economics , sociology , philosophy , ecology , linguistics , biology
Like many States in the American West, Arizona is flooded with conflicting claims to water, a very scarce resource. Conflicts arising from water‐rights claims by mining, agricultural and municipal entities are a traditional part of life in Arizona. Indian water‐rights claims, however, are a relatively recent development which introduce a significant and troublesome new factor into an already delicate water‐supply‐and‐demand management matrix. These claims are the topic of this paper. Any discussion about legal bases of Indian water‐rights claims must begin with an understanding of the U.S. Supreme Court's 1908 decision in the Winters case. In that decision the Court ruled that the U.S. government impliedly reserved water rights for the Indians of the Fort Bethold Reservation in Montana when it withdrew the lands from public domain. The Winters case and subsequent Indian water‐rights litigation are reviewed and the impacts on Arizona water‐rights claims are projected. Finally, the author suggests that the federal government must develop substitute water sources or augment water supplies for Indians if it is to fulfill its trustee role as defined in Winters doctrine adjudication. Five recommendations are presented for review in considering the possibilities of the two alternatives for government action relevant to solving complex water‐rights conflicts in Arizona, recommendations which may be applicable to similar problems in other water‐poor regions in the American West.