California Water Agencies Appeal to Supreme Court in Landmark Tribal Groundwater Case
This week, two California water agencies filed petitions appealing to the Supreme Court to review a landmark decision that gives Native American tribes groundwater rights. The Coachella Valley Water District and Desert Water Agency are challenging a March decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which held that the AguaCaliente Band of Cahuilla Indian tribe has a right to groundwater, which was established when the federal government created the reservation in the 1870s.
The main question in the case focuses on whether the reserved rights doctrine, also known as the Winters doctrine, pre-empts state regulation of groundwater. Per the Winters doctrine, the United States intended to reserve water for tribes when it established reservations to the extent necessary to accomplish the purpose of the reservation. Beneath the Valley is an aquifer that supports nine cities, 400,000 people and 66,000 acres of farmland. Additionally, the acquifer is also the main source of water for the reservation; however, the tribe purchases the water from state water agencies instead of directly pumping from the ground. Due to concerns about future groundwater availability, the tribe filed suit in 2013 to assert its reserved and aboriginal rights to water from the acquifer. The court, with all three judges in agreement, found that the creation of the Agua Caliente Reservation carried with it an implied right to use water from the Coachella Valley acquifer.
The Ninth Circuit’s decision was the first controlling opinion applying the Winters doctrine to groundwater. However, the water agencies argue it conflicts with prior rulings in two states – Wyoming and Arizona. In 1988, the Wyoming Supreme Court held that the doctrine does not apply to groundwater and in 2002, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that the doctrine applies so long as existing state law doesn’t provide adequate protection and no other water is available. Because of these differing decisions, the California water agencies believe that an intractable conflict has developed between states and Supreme Court review is now necessary.
The Supreme Court only hears a small number of cases that are petitioned for review and the court is expected to announce in the fall whether it will take up the Agua Caliente case.