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 ...
The water district petitioners had asked the High Court to review the Ninth Circuit’s precedent-setting decision holding that the doctrine of federal reserved water rights is not limited to surface water. … ...