Indian Water Rights Settlements

Disputes over Indian water rights are long-standing, expensive to resolve, and hinder the management of water resources at the local, State and National levels. The settlement of Indian Water Rights is a process by which the water claims of major water rights holders are settled providing certainty that improves water resource management. The Federal trust responsibility to American Indians and policy promoting self-determination and economic self-sufficiency is a major role for many Federal agencies with water responsibilities. Although the USGS is not directly involved with Indian Water Rights negotiations and settlements, the USGS Water Resources Mission Area and Water Science Centers provide decision makers with technical information needed to support water rights settlement work. USGS scientists work closely with tribal leaders around the country to address water availability issues related to the quantity and quality of water on tribal lands. In 2017 thru 2019, the GWSIP received dedicated cooperative matching funds (CMF) to continue working closely with tribal leaders in conducting water resource investigations to address Indian Water Rights negotiations, implementations, and settlements. The following are some of the activities supported by these CMF:

• Provide data used to quantify current groundwater and surface-water resources.
• Determine the current conditions in water quality and aquatic ecology, where appropriate.
• Provide technical expertise and studies to address specific technical questions that arise during water rights settlements and implementations, such as the collection and evaluation of needed data, modeling or analytical studies, or evaluation of scenarios of water use.
• Provide general technical support in the areas of geology, hydrology, and water resources.

The USGS provided Directed CMF to support activities related to Indian Water Rights for the following tribes in fiscal years 2017-23:

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