From California Indian Legal Services:
California Indian Legal Services has completed a Water Study.
The purpose of this Study is to provide a current review of the factual and legal status of water rights possessed by California Indian tribes as well as individual Indians (allottees) with interests in allotted trust lands (allotments). This Study will present a framework for analyzing California Indian water rights and offers suggested strategies for California tribes and allottees on how to protect and secure their rights.
The Study also covers new features of California state law that tribes, including unrecognized tribes, may want to participate in, for example, Tribal Beneficial Uses, Integrated Regional Water Management projects, and the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.
This study provides a detailed overview of the legal and factual status of water rights possessed by California Indian tribes and public domain allotment owners to evaluate and prioritize the needs of California Indians for the protection and development of their water resources.
It examines the history of dealings between federal and state governments and California Indians, and details the legal context concerning Indian water rights, including Winters Rights for Reservations / Rancherias, Winters rights for allotments, including public domain allotments, and the Trust Lands of Unterminated Tribes.
The study also explores the Marketability of water rights, the Protection and Assertion of Indian Reserved (Winters) Rights in a Mixed System, and strategies for tribes to secure and protect their water rights.
The Water Study explains California’s legal environment for federal reserved (Winters) water rights for Indian tribes and allotment owners. The Study also describes opportunities created under state law that advocates can take to protect and develop tribal water. The Study is broken up into chapters that begin with the purpose and finishes with strategic considerations and further research.
Click here to access the Water Study.
