Laserfiche WebLink
<br />The Wyoming Legislature authorized the state's Attorney General to seek <br />adjudication of Indian reserved water rights following the Akin decision in 1976. <br />Accordingly, a suit was filed in state district court in 1977 to determine all <br />water rights in the Wyoming portion of the Bighorn River Basin. The case is In <br />Re the General Adjudication of All Ril:hts to Use Water in the Bil: Horn River <br />System and All Other Sources. A subsequent attempt on the part of the U.S. <br />Government to remove the case to federal court was denied. <br /> <br />In a partial ruling in May 1984, the First Judicial District of the State of <br />Wyoming awarded the tribes of the Wind River Indian Reservation approximately <br />477,000 acre-feet of water per year based on a potentially irrigable 103,000 <br />acres of land. The involved parties -- the State of Wyoming, the federal <br />government, and the tribes of the Wind River Indian Reservation -- are <br />presently negotiating the terms of a final settlement in the matter. If <br />settlement is not reached by late 1984, the award will be confirmed and appeals <br />must be filed. <br /> <br />C. Estimates of Indian Reserved Water Ril:hts in the Missouri River Basin <br /> <br />Except for court mandated determinations in specific areas, no extensive or <br /> <br /> <br />definitive studies have been undertaken to quantify Indian reserved water rights in the <br /> <br /> <br />Missouri River Basin. However, individual states, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the <br /> <br /> <br />Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress, and the Western States <br /> <br /> <br />Water Council have prepared estimates to gain a rough idea of potential Indian water <br /> <br /> <br />claims. <br /> <br />At the request of the Subcommittee. on Energy Research and Water Resources <br /> <br />-32- <br />