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<br />-6538 <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />l' <br /> <br />lands, in particular the rights to water for "omitted" lands - irrigable <br />lands within the 1964 boundaries of the reservations, for which the United <br /> <br />States had failed to claim water rights in the earlier litigation - and for <br /> <br />"boundary" lands - land that had since 1964 been determined to lie within <br /> <br />one of the reservations. Again, the Court appointed a Special Master to <br /> <br />study the issues and to make recommendations. On this occasion, howev- <br /> <br />er, the Supreme Court. acting on the principle of ~ judicata, overruled <br />that recommendation of the Special Master in regard to the "omitted" lands. <br /> <br />although it sustained him with respect to certain of the "boundary" lands. <br /> <br />In this 1983 decision ( U.S._, 75 L.Ed.2d 318]. the Court gave evidence <br /> <br />of a turning point in its previously generous interpretation of Indian <br />entitlement to water for tribal consumptive use. Th is conservative bent <br /> <br />was reflected a few months later in Nevada v. United States ( U.S._, 77 <br />L.Ed.2d 509 (1983)), iNhen it declined to validate certain claims of the <br /> <br />Pyramid Lake Paiute I ndian Tribe to additional water rights in the Truckee <br /> <br />River in Nevada. <br /> <br />Facing now what they consider a hostile environment in the judicial <br /> <br />arena, Indian tribes can be expected to become increasingly amenable to <br /> <br />negotiation, especially when they are in a position to use the threat of <br /> <br />litigation as leverage in arranging negotiated settlements that can be <br /> <br />subsequently ratified in legislative enactments. A fitting example of this <br /> <br />is that of the Ak-Chin Community, which is part of the Maricopa Ak-Chin <br /> <br />Reservation in Arizona. At the time the reservation was established in <br /> <br />1912 it was awarded a decree of 70,000 acre-feet of water annually. a <br /> <br />sufficient supply for what became the Ak-Chin Farms, which by 1960 <br /> <br />encompassed some 11,000 acres. During the 1970'5, however. depletion of <br /> <br /> <br />ground water in the area, resulting from use by non-Indian farmers on <br /> <br />':.~.:~-::~. , <br /> <br />8 <br /> <br />~~. . <br /> <br />~.: , <br /> <br />- .. <br />--_. - ._---~ ---. <br />