Laserfiche WebLink
<br />fIt; \ <br />.,f \ 0082 <br /> <br />non-reserved water rights theory, we do not believe it is <br />a ro riate to reach a blanket conclus1on,that uQPer eX1sting <br />federal stat r1 ts eX1S exc <br />or reserved riqhts. The reasoning used by the Supreme ourt to <br />osupport federal reserved rights does not dep..nd solely on-a <br />formal rp~PTv~~;nn of lann ~Tnm the public domain. but rather on <br />~on9rp~~' exercise of ~ constitutional authority such as the <br />Propert or Commerce Clauses cou led w' the Su remac Clause. <br />T erefore. that reasoning is applicable evpn if thPTP h~~ hpp.n <br />ono such reservation., We believe, for example, that the Court's <br />decision in United States v. New Mexico is equally applicable to <br />water necessary to fulfill the pr1mary purposes of a federal <br />statutory scheme where the lands in question have been acquired <br />by the federal government from private ownership, rather than <br />reserved from the public domain, and dedicated to particular <br />federal purposes, such as a nqtional forest, park, or military <br />base. See pp. 77-78 infra. We also believe that it is open to <br />federal-agencies to argue that Congress has established particular <br />mandatory purposes for the management of public domain lands <br />that would be frustrated by the application of state water law, <br />although, as we discuss belOW, the primary federal statutes <br />authorizing management of the public domain appear to provide <br />little basis for that argument. The New Mexico decision leaves <br />virtually no room for arguing, however, that federal agencies can <br />appropriate water without regard to state law if that water is <br />necessary only to carry out a .secondary use" of federal lands, <br />in the terminology of the Court in New Mexico -- i.e., an incidental <br />or ancillary use that is permitted by Congress, but-not within <br />the primary purposes mandated by Congress for the federal lands <br />in question. <br /> <br />\ <br /> <br />The scope of the federal government's ri hts to una ro riated <br />water-for u e 1n the management of specific federal, lands in the <br />western states, whether characterized as "reserved" or "non~reserved,. <br />can be definitivelv determined only bY a careful examination of <br />the individual federal statutes that ut ent of <br />those ands and their legislative history. and of the potential <br />confl1cts that a be created b a Ii ~ion state laws. We <br />canno und"lrtake that analysis here with respect to all federal <br />statutes governing the use of federal lands, but must leave that <br />task, at least initially, to the individual agencies responsible <br />for administration of those statutes. We outline in this opinion, <br />to the extent EQssible, the leqal standaras ana consid"LaLluns <br />that are applicable to that analysis. and the bases for our <br />conclusion~. <br /> <br />II. Background <br /> <br />The rights of the federal government to use water in the <br />western states cannot be analyzed solely as a question of <br /> <br />- 6 - <br />