WSP06987

• File Number: 8064
• Description: Section "D" General Federal Issues/Policies
• Date: 12/1/1983
• Author: Norman K Johnson
• Title: Indian Water Rights in the West
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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Which standard will be applied to any given reservation
is not clear. Nevertheless, a certain sense of the region-
wide magnitude of potential Indian water right claims in the
West can be gleaned from existing information dealing with
various aspects of Indian water uses and perceived Indian
water needs. That information, to the extent that the WSWC
staff has been able to obtain it, is reproduced below, state
by state for each Indian reservation.

While the tabulation does contain some settled Indian
water rights, it does not purport to set forth estimates of
what Indian water rights '''ought'' to be. Nor is it intended
as a statement regarding how quantification should take place.
Nor is it a PIA estimate for the various reservations. Rather,
it is a listing of available information relating to irrigable
lands on Indian reservations as well as Indian reservation
"water needs" for purposes other than irrigation as perceived
by the Indians themselves or their federal trustees.

The staff of the Western States Water Council specifically
disclaims any implicit validation of any and all listed esti-
mates. The process ultimately used to determine water rights
for individual reservations may reasonably be expected to
result in awards both larger and smaller than the listed
estimates. The intent of the information below is to pro-

vide a general overview of the potential Indian water right