Indians stand at forefront of water-rights battles

Water is expected to become more important over the next 50 years, and Native American tribes may be positioned at the forefront of the battle over water rights. "By midcentury, water is expected to loom as large as oil in the economic and political life of the country, as parties race to lock up supplies," Felicity Barringer of The New York Times reports. "As droughts exacerbated by climate change and by population growth expand in the Great Plains and the Southwest, Indian water rights loom as a largely unsettled — and unsettling — factor that could affect the price and availability of water to millions of homes and businesses."

In Oklahoma (NYT map), the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes have joined the fight for water rights to Sardis Lake, which could supply water to Oklahoma City, Tulsa and their surrounding suburbs. A 103-year-old Supreme Court decision, known as the Winters doctrine, "effectively puts tribes in Western states at the head of the line in times of water shortage," Barringer writes. The Choctaw and Chickasaw want Oklahoma to recognize them as joint owners of the water rights, but despite the Winters doctrine, establishing water rights can take decades.

The Interior Department has tried to make sure there are no big losers when a tribe's water rights are recognized, Barringer writes. The Choctaws' and Chicasaws' claims are further complicated because they no longer have reservations, raising questions about whether the water rights are tied to a specific land grant. Tribes may lose in the push for water rights if the federal courts trim earlier rulings establishing Indian rights, Daniel McCool, director of the environmental studies program at the University of Utah, told Barringer. "It's case law," he said, "and case law can be changed." (Read more)