Economic Impact of Alternative Resolutions of New Mexico Pueblo Indian Water Rights. Volume 1. Pueblo Indian Water Rights: Vortex in the Struggle for a Precious Resource

摘要

The legal theories applicable to the water rights of the New Mexico Pueblo Indians are explored. The aboriginal water rights theory gives the Pueblo Indians a paramount water-right priority in time. However, the quantity of water remains debatable under historic use or expanding right doctrine. The treaty right theory is based on Spanish and Mexican law in force when the Pueblos were Mexicans at the time of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. This provides the Indians a priority based on the principles of prior appropriation with quantities depending on an expanding need principle which considers the rights of third parties and community equity. According to the Winters decisions the Indian water right would be determined by the date of reservation, and the quantity would be determined by the principle of practiably irrigable acres. The Pueblo Lands Acts of 1924 and 1933 have produced disagreements.