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Irrigators who wanted to build a reservoir on a tributary of the South Platte were denied their initial request for a permit from the Corps of Engineers due to potential effects on endangered species habitat. The reservoir itself did not affect anyon-site endangered species, but the capture of spring runoff that would otherwise flow downriver to the mainstem of the Platte River was deemed a potential threat to whooping crane habitat in Nebraska. High spring runoff on the Platte helps maintain the habitat needed to keep whooping cranes safe from predators during their journey through Nebraska. Consequently, issuance of the Corps permit is contingent upon the irrigators demonstrating that the effects of the reservoir project on the whooping crane will be insignificant or mitigated. Although the Endangered Species Act is the most far-reaching example, streamflow protection is potentially required by other federal environmental statutes as well. For instance, instream flows may need to be maintained in order to dilute non- point source pollution or other contaminants controlled under the Oean Water Act. The Salinity Control Act of 1974 also creates pressures to maintain streamflows, primarily in the headwaters of the Colorado River, that dilute high salinity levels downstream. Reserved Water Rights A final-and potent-method under federal law for streamflow protection involves the establishment of senior instream rights on federal lands. As mentioned above, the U.S. Supreme Court in 1908 stated that water rights were reserved for tribal use at the time that Indian reservations were created. In 1963, the Court applied this concept of reserved water rights to non-Indian federal reservations carved out of the public domain (national forests, military bases, national monuments, etc.).29 Consequently, national parks, national wildlife refuges, and other federal lands needing natural water bodies to achieve their purposes carry instream water rights. Consumptive water uses which began diverting after the creation of the federal reservation are legally subordinate to the associated federal instream flow requirements. In 1976, the Supreme Court demonstrated the strength of this federal reserved rights doctrine in Cappaert y. United States.30 This case involved the protection of a natural pool of water in Devils Hole National Monument (near the Nevada/California border) which supports the Monument's primary attraction-the desert pupfish. In its ruling, the Court restricted groundwater pumping by nearby irrigators that was lowering the pool to the detriment of the pupfish. The Court ruled that the Monument's reserved water right was senior to the injurious groundwater pumping because the irrigation began after establishment of the Monument. While the Cappaert controversy was brewing, the United States also sought to establish reserved instream water rights on its national forest lands. The Forest Service 1-14 I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I