Supreme Court Hears Arguments in Case Regarding Navajo Nation Water Rights

The Supreme Court on Monday morning heard oral arguments in Arizona v. Navajo Nation, a case revolving around whether the U.S. government is obligated to fulfill Native American reservations’ water needs.

At issue is an 1868 treaty under which the federal government guaranteed the nation’s agricultural needs, which the Navajo Nation argues includes water rights. Tribal governments in the suit also cite the so-called Winters doctrine, based on the 1908 Winters v. United States court case, which established that the creation of a Native American reservation also reserves the water necessary for its purposes.

Complicating matters, however, is the allocation since then of rights to the Colorado River between the seven states in the river’s basin.

Read the source article at thehill.com