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5. NON - INDIAN RESERVED WATER RIGHTS CLAIMS <br />Work to date: This topic has been of concern to the Council and has become increasingly <br />important as federal agencies look for means to maintain instream flows, and as state stream <br />adjudications progress. During the March, 1996 Council meetings in Washington, DC, a <br />discussion was held with John Leshy, Solicitor for the Department of the Interior. The topic of <br />non -Indian reserved water rights claims played a large part in that discussion. States voiced their <br />concern that federal agencies appear to have substantial claims for non -Indian reservation <br />purposes, but are reluctant to quantify those claims. States are faced with the prospect of <br />launching expensive general adjudications to quantify these claims so that other water rights <br />applications may be processed. Mr. Leshy has offered in the past to work with states to provide <br />notice of such federal claims but without thereby subjecting the federal agencies to state <br />jurisdiction. <br />The recently concluded Federal Water Rights Task Force has just addressed an issue of federal <br />non -Indian reserved water rights claims associated with claims of the Forest Service. The Task <br />Force was unable to reach a consensus conclusion, again indicating the difficulty in identifying <br />the bases for such claims. In any event, federal government agencies are looking, and will <br />continue to look for means to acquire water to fulfill federal purposes. <br />1998: The Committee will address this topic of concern at an upcoming Committee meeting by <br />assembling a discussion group with the appropriate federal personnel. Such a discussion will be <br />deserving of thorough treatment and will be assigned a longer than usual period of time during <br />the committee meeting. <br />Prior to this, Council staff will prepare an overview of the types of claims being filed and some <br />case history on legal issues that may be involved. This overview will address the range of rights <br />being sought, their scope and nature, as well as a discussion of what the different member states <br />have experienced up to this point in time. This would be presented to kick -off the proposed <br />discussion group during an upcoming Council meeting. <br />Estimated work days: 20 days <br />Time frame: January - August <br />5 <br />