ARIZONA SUPREME COURT CONFIRMS PRECLUSIVE EFFECT OF GLOBE EQUITY DECREE ON GILA RIVER WATER RIGHTS CLAIMS OF SAN CARLOS APACHE TRIBE AND UNITED STATES

摘要

The Arizona Supreme Court recently considered whether the San Carlos Apache Tribe (Tribe) and the United States, acting on the Tribe's behalf, are precluded from claiming additional rights to water from the Gila River mainstem due to a prior consent decree entered by the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. In re The General Adjudication of All Rights to Use Water in the Gila River System and Source, 127 P.3d 882 (Ariz. 2006), recon. denied, In re The General Adjudication of All Rights to Use Water in the Gila River System and Source, 134 P.3d 375 (Ariz. 2006). The consent decree in question was entered by the federal district court in 1935 in United States v. Gila Valley Irrigation District, and is commonly referred to as the Globe Eauitv Decree.