WSPC05416

• File Number: 8064
• Description: Indian Water Rights
• State: CO
• Date: 5/1/1984
• Author: Western Governors As
• Title: Indian Water Rights in the West
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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2390

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rights are stated in terms of a definite quantity, nature of
use, and time of use; (3) The rights may be terminated by
abandonment or forfeiture; (4) Their priority is the date on
which beneficial use began and; (5) They are transferrable.~1

One of the most important characteristics of the appropriation
doctrine is its protection of economies based upon existing

water uses. The stability afforded by the doctrine has contri-
buted significantly to making the West an inhabitable and eco-

nomically productive region.

III. Indian Water Rights Issues

In 1906, years after Congress had approved the creation
of vested property interests in water under the appropriation

doctrine, the United States brought suit on behalf of the

Indians living on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in

Montana alleging that all of the water of the Milk River,

some of which was being used by non-Indians, was necessary
for reservation purposes. The defendants in the suit held

valid state water rights under Montana law and had appropri-
ated and were beneficially using 5,000 miners' inches of
Milk River water for farming and ranching purposes. They
claimed they would be forced to abandon their homes and farms
if deprived of that water. They stressed the validity of
their state created water rights.

The resolution of the dispute between the Indians and