Articles

Are there federal reserved rights to groundwater?

August 08, 2017 | By DAMIEN SCHIFF

That is the question being asked of the United States Supreme Court in two cert petitions filed last month, Desert Water Authority & Coachella Valley Water District v. Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. Succinctly, the doctrine of federal reserved water rights creates a presumption that when the federal government withdraws land from the p ...