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<br />~ 0069
<br />
<br />also recognize, however, that the federal government may have
<br />reserved some .proprietary. interests in unappropriated
<br />water appurtenant to federal lands at the time tAe states
<br />were admitted into the Union. In the so-called .California
<br />doctrine" and "Oregon doctrine" states, 181 the state courts
<br />have held that the federal government haa-an original property
<br />right to all non-navigable waters on the territories that formed
<br />those states, a right it did not pass to the states at the time
<br />of their admission. Those states, however, by virtue of their
<br />sovereignty over lands within their borders, can nonetheless
<br />determine rights that appertain to federal as well as private
<br />ownership of property, such as the use of water, subject to the
<br />ultimate authority of the federal government to determine such
<br />rights on federally owned lands. 191 In the "Colorado doctrine"
<br />states, by contrast, the courts have held that the United States
<br />never acquired any proprietary interest in waters in those
<br />states, and therefore that the transfer of sovereignty to such
<br />states with their admission simultaneously transferred full
<br />power to control the disposition and use of those waters. 201
<br />
<br />B. Role of the Federal Government
<br />
<br />The most significant role that the federal government
<br />has played in the development of water law in the western
<br />states has been that of owner of vast public lands within
<br />those states. As we discuss below, the federal government
<br />has largely acquiesced in or fostered the development of
<br />comprehensive state control over water in the western states,
<br />
<br />181 The "California doctrine. states are California, Kansas,
<br />Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas and Washington. The
<br />.Oregon doctrine" is followed in Oregon and South Dakota.
<br />See Colum. Note, supra n.5, at 972-75~ Note, "Federal
<br />Nonreserved Water R~ghts,. 48 Univ. of Chi. L. R. 758,
<br />766 n.46 (1980)~ 2 Clark, supra, 5 102.3.
<br />
<br />191 The "Oregon doctrine. differs from the .California doctrine.
<br />Tn that it construes the Desert Land Act as establishing a
<br />uniform rule of appropriation applicable to private and federal
<br />rights. The .California doctrine" holds that the Desert Land Act,
<br />together with the Mining Acts of 1866 and 1870 (discussed at
<br />pp. 18-24, infra) merely recognized and affirmed whatever state
<br />system had been developed for allocation of water rights, including
<br />systems such as California's that recognized some riparian rights.
<br />See Colum. Note, supra n.5, at 972-75~ 2 Clark, supra, 5 102.3.
<br />
<br />201 The 'Colorado doctrine. states are Arizona, Colorado,
<br />ICaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. 2 Clark,
<br />supra, 5 102.3(C) n.21. For a full discussion of the origins
<br />and holdings of the California, Oregon and COlorado doctrines,
<br />~ 5 Clark, supra, 55 401, 405, 420~ Colum. Note, supra n.5,
<br />at 973-75.
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