7882

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7882
• Author: Natural Resources Law Center.
• Title: Instream Flow Protection in the Western United States
• USFW Year: 1988.
• USFW - Doc Type: A Pratical Syposium, March 31-April 1, 1988.
• Copyright Material: NO

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III. EFFORTS OF INDIAN TRIBES
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Like state government, Indian tribes have the authority to

manage, regulate, and control waters in their jurisdictions.

Waters flowing through or underlying an Indian reservation

generally fall under tribal jurisdiction regardless of whether

the water is used by the tribe, by individual tribal members, or

by non-Indians residing within the reservation boundaries. The

courts have recognized the rights of tribes to issue water use

permits pursuant to tribal water codes and, in 1986 and 1987,

Congress authorized tribal governments to assume primacy on

Indian reservations over major provisions of the Clean Water Act

and Safe Drinking Water Act.[17]

A number of Indian tribes have enacted comprehensive water

. codes to promote the management, use, and protection of

reservation water resources. These codes typically reflect,

among other policies, the desire to maintain the natural

environment supported by free-flowing waters.

For example, the
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~avajo Nation Water Code (that regulates water use on the Navajo

reservation in northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and

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southeastern Utah) provides that the director of the tribal

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Division of Water Resources administer water to ensure that

adequate levels remain in streams, rivers, ponds, and lakes. More

specifically, in approving new water use permits, the director

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~hall~rate conditions nesiqned to maintain "pools and
~reamflows ~ ~iildlifQ, recreation. aesthetic and Navaj~
religious val~] The Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian
"--CS

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