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<br />0232 <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />The case of United States v. Grand River Dam Authority <br />66/ involved the question of whether the construction of a <br />hydroelectric pOlver project on a non-navigable river by the <br />UnIted States involved a taking under the 5th amendment, <br />because it frustrated the dam authority's expectations to <br />develop a hydroelectric project at the same site. The <br />federal power project was a part of a comprehensive plan for <br />regulation of navigation, flood control and power develop- <br />ment on the Arkans~s River, a navigable river in Oklahoma. <br />The Supreme Court held that the dam authority's interests <br />were not compensable because an assertion of the United <br />states superior authority under the commerce clause to <br />improve navigation is not a taking under the fifth amend- <br />ment. Thus, the case does not support a so-called non- <br />reserved water right, but rather involves United States <br />supremacy over navigation under the commerce clause. <br /> <br />The Supreme Court's decision in United States v. <br />District Court for Eagle County 67/ is also cited in the <br />Opinion, The Court held that theUnited States is subject <br />to the jurisdiction of state courts in a general stream <br />adjudication pursuant to the McCarran Amendment. The Court <br />specifically held that all federal rights are subject to <br />such adjudication. The Opinion refers to the phrase in the <br />McCarran i\mendment "water rights which the United States has <br />otherwise acquired" as an indication of the existence of <br />non-reserved rights. However, the Court in Eagle County <br />specifically interprets "othenvise" to mean reserved rights. ~/ <br /> <br />The Opinion draws particular attention to the language <br />by the Supreme Court in Cappaert v. United States to the <br />effect that "federal water rights are not dependent upon <br />state law or state protedures...." 69/ Cappaert was a <br />reserved rights case, which upheld the government's claim to <br />reserved rights to protect a species of pupfish, The cited <br />language must be examined in context and there is nothing in <br />the opinion to show that the Court was considering anything <br />other than a reserved right. The Court's language was in <br />response to the petitioner's argument, as restated by the <br />Court, that "the federal government must perfect its implied <br />(reserved) water rights according to state law." 70/ Thus, <br />the la,lguage cited in the Opinion does not supportthe <br />proposition of another exception to state jurisdiction in <br />the form of non-reserved federal water rights. <br />