7390

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7390
• Author: Natural Resources Law Center.
• Title: Boundaries and Water
• USFW Year: 1989.
• USFW - Doc Type: Allocation and Use of a Shared Resource.
• Copyright Material: NO

I. INTRODUCTION
During the last two decades, interjurisdictional issues have
become increasingly important in water allocation, planning and
management. Supplies of water have become tight. Environmental
concerns, often manifested in federal programs, have come to the
fore. Indian tribes have begun to adjudicate and exercise their
reserved rights. Ultimately, water development projects that
traditio~ally were resolved as a matter of one state's internal
law must now proceed in the context of obligations to other
jurisdictions -- the federal government, other states, Indian
tribes, and sometimes foreign governments. This presentation
treats the constitutional division of power among governments in
the field of water policy by examining federal power, state
authority, tribal prerogatives, arid the power of Congress and the
courts to allocate water among jurisdictions.

II. THE NATURE OF FEDERAL POWER
A. The Concept of Naviqabilitv for Title
1. Development of the Doctrine
Most nations in the world have given some kind of
special legal treatment to major watercourses
receiving substantial commercial and recreational
use. In the United States, the underlying
rationale of the navigability concept traces to
Roman and English law. Under Roman law, navigable
rivers were a class of watercourses that received
a higher degree of regulation and protection. In

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