WSPC02585

• File Number: 8064
• Description: Indian Water Rights
• State: CO
• Basin: San Juan/Dolores
• Water Division: 7
• Date: 3/17/1997
• Author: Todd M Olinger
• Title: Summary of Indian Water 1997
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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Introduction

Under the Western Water Policy Review Act of 1992,1 Congress directed the
President to undertake a comprehensive review offederal activities in the
nineteen western states which directly or indirectly affect the allocation and
use of water resources-whether surface or subsur-face--and to submit a
report of findings and recommendations to the congressional committees
having jurisdiction over federal water programs.' Pursuant to this Act, the
twenty,two member Western Water Policy Review Advisory Commission
(Commission) was fonned.3 The Commission is composed often members
appointed by the President (including the Secretaries of the Interior and the
Army) and twelve members of Congress serving ex officio by virtue of being
the Chairmen and ranking minority members of six Congressional
committees and subcommittees.

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The purpose of the Commission was to perfonn a two-year comprehensive
review of federal activities in the nineteen western states regarding the
coordination of federal and local water policy objectives. The legislation
authorizing the Commission noted that at least fourteen federal agencies
have water-related responsibilities, resulting in "unclear goals and an
inefficient handling ofthe Nation's water policy.". The legislation also noted
that the conflicts between competing goals and objectives offederal, state,
and local agencies and private users are particularly acute in the nineteen
western states.s In particular, Congress noted that the federal government
recognizes its "trust responsibilities to protect Indian water rights and to
assist tribes in the wise use of water resources. "6

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As part of its legislative mandate, the Commission held a series of meetings
and workshops across the west, compiling reports and testimony that will
become part of the record of the Commission. This document summarizes
the proceedings of the Commission's meeting in Phoenix, Arizona on,
March 17-18, 1997. The meeting, titled Indian Water 1997, Trends and
Directions in Federal Water Policy: Implications and Opportunities for
Tribal Action Forum, was organized for the Commission by Richard Trudall,
the Executive Director of the American Indian Resources Institute. During
the meeting, the Secretary ofthe Interior, tribal leaders, government
officials, and Indian water law experts identified trends in the federal
government's approach to protecting tribal water resources, and then
proposed recommendations for improvements in federal policy in this area.

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This report is intended to provide the reader with the essence of the meeting
in a condensed fonnat, The Secretary of the Interior's and the keynote

I Pub, L, 102,575, Title XXX. ~~3001,301O, 106 Stat, 4693-4698 (codified as amended in
scattered sections of 43 U.S.C.).
, Pub, L. 102-575, Title XXX, ~ 3003(a).
3 Pub. L. 102,575, Title XXX, ~ 3004.
. Pub, L. 102,575, Title XXX, ~ 3002(5).
, Pub. L. 102-575, Title xxx. ~ 3002(6).
· Pub. L. 102-575. Title XXX, ~ 3002(9).