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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NOTES - ALASKA

Although no estimates of Indian water right claims or

irrigable acreage could be found, a letter from L. A. Dutton,

Chief of the Water Management and Procedures Section of the

Alaska Department of Water Resources to Western States Water

Council reads in part:

In Alaska, water use for agricultural irrigation

is an important but minor use of water. Indian water

uses in Alaska center around subsistence use and

potential conflicts include water use for development

projects, particularly resource development, such as

for oil and gas and locatable minerals,

In general, conflicts between Indian or Native
claims to water and the State of Alaska stem from
conflicts of interpretation of the Alaska Native
Claims Settlement Act. In general, Native groups
feel that they are entitled to manage water on
Native Corporation Lands while the State of Alaska
holds that the Alaska Constitution and the Alaska
Water Use Act, AS 46.15, vests issuance of water
rights on all lands in the state; including local,
state, federal, and private lands; ...