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. -. '("i" t " . -47- ~~ [l]nvestlgatlon and establIshment of water rights In accordance with local custom, laws, and decisIons of courts, Including the acquisItIon of water rights or of lands or Interests In lands or rlghts- of-way for use and protectIon of water rights necessary or beneficial In the admInIstration and public use of the national parks and monuments,~QI I do not view the 1946 Act as InconsIstent wIth the princIple that. when park lands were set aside, the Congress also Intended to reserve the unappropriated waters appurtenant to such lands necessary to accompl Ish park purposes. The reference to establIshIng water rights In accord- ance with court decisIons should be read to Include authorIty to estab- lish reserved water rights under applIcable Supreme Court decIsions. The 1946 Act grants discretionary authority 911 to the NPS to obtaIn water In compl lance wIth state law and to purchase valId, existIng water rIghts, when It' Is In the government's best Interest to do so (e.g., If there are not sufficient c:mounts of unapproprIated water avaIlable to fulfIll park purposes when a park Is cstc:bllshedl. I also view this statute, as apparently does the Supreme Court In the New Mexlc9 case, ~:~. at 702. as authorizing the NPS to acquIre water rights to carry out sec~~~ uses which may be permitted In park areas, but are by definItion not among the purposes for which the parks are created. These conclusIons are compatible with the pro~lslon's scant. legislatIve history. :.:;.~ 901 This provisIon was Intended to clarify the Service's basic authority to InvestIgate. establ Ish. and acquire water rIghts. so as to avoid points of order to appropriatIon bl I Is. H.R. Rep. No. 2459. 79th Cong.. 2d Sess. 2 (1946). When originally Introduced. this provisIon contained no reference to state or local law. The reference was added. however. at the suggestion of the COmmittee on Public Lands. 92 COng. Rec. 9103 (1946). There was no discussion of the underlying reason or need for this amendment on the House floor or In the House COmmittee Report. ~I The 1946 Act Is readily dlstlngulshc:ble from sectIon 8 of the Reclamation Act of 1902. 32 Stat. 390. as amended. 43 U.S.C. 5 383 (1970). construed In California v. United States. supra. to requIre federal deference to both substantive and procedural state water laws for the appropriation and distribution of federal reclamation project water, except where Inconsistent with congressIonal dIrectives. Section 8 provIdes: .,.c.'". [ footnote [N]othlng In this Act sha! I be construed as affecting or Intended to affect or to In any way Interfere with the laws of any continued]