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<br />0.. ~ :JQ(l <br />U~ v.. <br /> <br />issue should remain closed in the interest of finality, and to open the case <br /> <br />would upset the delicate balance of water rights in the Colorado River Basin. <br /> <br />He also attributed the earlier omissions as due to the complexity of the original <br /> <br />case. It has been speculated that the tribes may now seek monetary damages <br /> <br />for the water rights they claim to have lost (Western States Water Council, <br />1983, Western States Water, Issues 463, 464 and 465). <br /> <br />In cases involving .water for nonagricultural uses, Indian tribes have been <br /> <br />awarded water rights for the maintenance of fisheries (U.S. v. Anderson <br /> <br />). In the case a federal district court awarded the Spokane Tribe <br /> <br />almost the entire flow of Olamokane Creek in the State of Washington for a <br /> <br />combination of irrigation and fishery maintenance. <br /> <br />In Oregon, a federal district court ruled in 1979 (U.S. v. Adair, 478 F. <br />Supp. 336, D. Oregon, 1979) that hunting and fishing rights of the Klamath <br /> <br />Tribe, specified in an 1864 treaty, implied a water right sufficient to maintain <br /> <br />fish and wildlife habitat. In Adair the court also established a priority on <br /> <br />Indian water rights between instream use for habitat and offstream use for <br /> <br />irrigation. The instream use, it found, was paramount in Adair since it <br /> <br />supported the traditional tribal lifestyle. The agricultural use was ruled <br /> <br />secondary since it was made possible through subsequent federal legislation and <br /> <br />the allotment of separate land holdings to individual tribal members. Therefore, <br /> <br />the Indian water rights could be exercised for agriculture only insofar as it did <br /> <br />not interfere with the instream use. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth <br /> <br />Circuit essentially confirmed the lower court's ruling but added that the scope <br /> <br />of the water right thus reserved for the tribe should be defined in terms of the <br /> <br />current hunting and fishing activities of tribal members. The U.S. Supreme <br /> <br />-7- <br />