Petitions of the day

Issue:Whether, when, and to what extent the federal reserved right doctrine recognized inWinters v. United States, pre-empts state-law regulation of groundwater.

Issues:(1) Whether the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit’s standard for determining whether a federal reserved water right impliedly existsthat the right impliedly exists if the reservation purpose envisions the use of waterconflicts with the standard established by the Supreme Court inUnited States v. New Mexico, which the petitioners contend held that a federal reserved water right impliedly exists only if the reservation of water is necessary to accomplish the primary reservation purposes and prevent these purposes from being entirely defeated”; (2) whether the reserved rights doctrine applies to groundwater; and (3) whether the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians has a reserved right in groundwater, and in particular whether the Tribe’s claimed reserved right is necessary to primary reservation purposes under theNew Mexicostandard in light of the fact that the Tribe has the right to use groundwater under California law.