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There are 23 Indian reservations in or partially in the Missouri river basin, several of which have large coal deposits. Considerable irrigation has been developed on the reservations; however, the potential for much more irrigation develop- ment remains. The situation has been assessed as follows: In some parts of the Basin there are ade- quate water supplies to accommodate both Indian and non-Indian development needs, and State water plans can be adjusted to reflect Indian requirements without diffi- culty. However, in other water-short areas, obtaining adequate supplies of water to provide for tribal needs will, at best, be a difficult achievement. This is particularly true for those tribes located where compet- ing users have already, or are fast approach- ing the pOint of oversubscribing the existing supplies of water. The ultimate quantity of water and the pace at which it is made available for Indian development in these critically short areas will depend primarily on the speed by which Indian water entitle- ments can be legally established in the cou rts. 58 Similar problems are associated with reserved water rights on federal lands. The state of Montana has undertaken the ad- judication of all existing claims to the state's water including rights held by the several Indian tribes located in the state with the passage of an amendment to the Montana Water Use ACt.59 It promises to be a costly and hard-fought battle before any resolution of the issues is reached. In Nebraska, the Santee Indian Reservation located in Knox County, and the Winnebago and Omaha Indian Reservations overlapping parts of Thurston, Cuming, and Burt Counties, are all situated on the Missouri River and could have potential claims to the river's water. WATER QUALITY The quantity of water is very much interrelated with water quality. Any reduction of the quantity of surface water will provide a consequent re- duction in water quality. Water quality problems can also exist without and apart from any quantity reductions. The Policy Issue Study on Water Quality addresses some of the water quality problems associated with low streamflow. It therefore stands to reason that any reduction of flows on interstate streams flowing in Nebraska will have an impact on the water quality of the stream. At the present time, none of the com- pacts or decrees to which Nebraska is a party address the water quality aspects of interstate water allocation. '-28 GROUNDWATER It has been estimated that there is approxi- mately 1.875 billion acre-feet of recoverable, good quality groundwater underlying the State of Nebraska.50 Most of this water is contained in the principal aquifer and concentrated in the central part of the state.51 The principal aquifer refers to the hydrogeologic unit composed of rocks of the Tertiary and Quaternary age from which most of the groundwater utilized in Nebraska is de- rived.52 Many areas near the boundaries of the state lack sufficient amounts of groundwater to sustain significant irrigation development.53 therefore, apart from the differing physical char- acteristics of groundwater and surface water, and with certain isolated exceptions, ground- water does not present the same types of inter- state allocation problems which have been asso- ciated with surface water. There are, however, several groundwater aquifers which underly portions of more than one state. The Madison Formation is an aquifer underlying parts of Sioux and Dawes counties in Nebraska and parts of South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana. A dispute between South Dakota and Wyoming over a proposal to supply ground- water from the aquifer for use in a coal slurry delivery system gave rise to suggestions that an allocation of water in the aquifer be made to the overlying states. Present plans are to use an alternative water source for that particular project but future projects could again look to the Madison formation for a water supply. Nebraska's location on the periphery of the Madison Formation does not present any serious concerns at the present time. Irrigation develop- ment from groundwater in that portion of the state is minimal with no uses being made of the water in the Madison Formation. Nebraska, how- ever, would be a party to any adjudication or allocation of water in the formation. The opposite situation exists in the Republican River Basin. Southwestern Nebraska and north- eastern Colorado share a common aquifer which is being extensively tapped for irrigation purposes in both states. Water levels are falling in both states and some surface streams relying largely upon ground water discharge for a base flow are showing reduced flows. The general movement of the water in the aquifer is from west to east, with an estimated 46,000 acre-feet enter- ing Nebraska each year. At present, both Nebraska and Colorado are administering their own groundwater management systems and no effort has been made by either state to address interstate impacts of present or future develop- ments. Another interstate aquifer which has received