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<br />c. The list of required information for inclusion in the inventories is incomplete. <br /> <br />Although definitions are provided for the terms "reserved rights" and <br />"appropriative rights", no definitions are given in the bill for the terms <br />"riparian, littoral" and "overlying" which are mentioned in Section 3 (a) (1). <br />These terms may well have different meanings in different states, or may in- <br />deed be unfamiliar to many private water users and state administrators. <br />In order to provide optimum notice of the types of rights which will be included <br />in the inventory of federal claims, definitions of these terms should be pro- <br />vided in the bill under Section 2 (d). <br /> <br />In addition, there is no criteria given in the bill for the determination <br />of the rate of flow which might be claimed for in-stream use. Nor is there any <br />description of useS for which such a claim might be made. As previously noted, <br />the states question the proposition that the federal government is entitled to such <br />uses as part of its reserved rights. But in any event, it would be important <br />to have judicially cognizable criteria established in the bill for measuring the <br />validity and the extent of such claims to in-stream use. <br /> <br />D. 7he inclusion of Section 6 in the draft bill is unjustified. <br /> <br />Section 6 of the draft proposal provides that: <br /> <br />"any Indian or Indian tribe .....hose ownership of his or its lands <br />is no longer restricted by the laws of the United States who claims <br />to be the owner of a right to the use of water based on federal law, <br />and any person claiming to be the owner of a right to the use of <br />water as the successor in interest to an Indian or Indian tribe or <br />to the United States where the claim of right is based on his owner- <br />ship of lands to which a right to the use of water based on a federal <br />law pertained while the lands were in United States or Indian owner- <br />ship, may request the Secretary of the Interior to include the right <br />in the inventory for the state or states in which the lands involved <br />and the point of diversion are situated." <br /> <br />The states see little justification for the inclusion of Section 6 in the <br />draft bill. The states' position is that when individuals obtain lands which <br />were previously in tribal ownership, the rights acquired with the lands (in- <br />cluding "reserved" water rights) become subject to provisions of state law, in- <br />cluding the Idws relative to forfeiture, abandonment, beneficial use, etc. The <br />rights obtained by successors in interest to Indian tribes, even if based upon <br />federal law, can be determined through normal state adjudication processes. We see <br />no value in cloaking these rights with a special element of authenticity through <br />their inclusion with the United States claims in an inventory. Use of water by <br />an individual on land severed from a reservation can in no way be construed to be <br />in fulfillment of the purposes for which the lands were originally reserved or <br />withdrawn. <br /> <br />E. The establishment of an office in the Department of the Interior for the <br />filing of water riqhts inventories is unnecessary and undesirable. <br /> <br />Section 3 (b) requires the Secretary of the Interior to "establish an office <br />in the Department of the Interior for the maintenance of records for all rights <br /> <br />(14) <br />