United States v. Colorado

• Citation: 91 S.Ct. 1003,401 U.S. 527,28 L.Ed.2d 284
• Decision Date: 24 March 1971
• Docket Number: No. 812,812
• Parties: UNITED STATES v. . 5, State of COLORADO et al
• Court: United States Supreme Court

401 U.S. 527

91 S.Ct. 1003

28 L.Ed.2d 284

UNITED STATES

v The DISTRICT COURT IN AND FOR WATER DIVISION NO. 5, State of COLORADO et al.

No. 812.

Argued March 2, 1971.

Decided March 24, 1971.

Syllabus

In this companion case to United States v. District Court for Eagle County, 401 U.S. 520, 91 S.Ct. 998, 28 L.Ed.2d 278, the United States had been served with notice pursuant to 43 U.S.C. § 666 of a proceeding in state court for the adjudication of water rights affecting areas of the State in the drainage basins of the Colorado River system. In addition to its claim that § 666 does not apply to state court suits against the Government for adjudication of its reserved water rights, the Government contended that the state statutory proceedings involved in this case, which contemplated monthly proceedings before a water referee on water rights applications filed within a particular month, do not constitute general adjudications of water rights under § 666 because all the water users and all water rights on a stream system are not implicated in the referee's determinations. The Government's contentions were rejected by the state courts. Held:

1. The state court has jurisdiction to adjudicate the reserved water rights of the United States. Eagle County, supra. P. 529.

2. The state statutory proceedings are within the scope of § 666 and reach all claims in their totality, although the adjudication is made on a monthly basis. Pp. 529—530.

Affirmed.

Walter Kiechel, Jr., Washington, D.C., for petitioner.

Kenneth Balcomb, Glenwood Springs, Colo., for respondents.

Mr. Justice DOUGLAS delivered the opinion of the Court.

This is a companion case to the Eagle County case 401 U.S. 520, 91 S.Ct. 998, 28 L.Ed.2d 278, and involves an action brought under a different state statute ¹ in the District Court of Colorado for Water Division No. 5.² That court was given responsibility for water rights determinations affecting 'all lands in the state of Colorado in the drainage basins of the Colorado river and all of its tributaries arising within Colorado, with the exception of the Gunnison river,'³ which includes the area of the Eagle River system.

Notice was served on the United States pursuant to 43 U.S.C. § 666(b) and it moved to quash the service. That motion was denied. A writ of prohibition was sought in the Supreme Court and it was also denied. The case is here on a petition for a writ of certiorari which we granted. 400 U.S. 940, 91 S.Ct. 246, 27 L.Ed.2d 244.

The area covered by this suit includes vastly more extensive water rights than those involved in the Eagle County case. The Forest Service administers four separate national forests in the area: the White River, Arapaho, Routt, and Grand Mesa-Uncompahgre. The Department of the Interior, through the Bureau of Reclamation, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Mines, and the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, makes use of water in Water Division No. 5 for national recreational and other purposes. The Department of the Navy administers certain naval petroleum and oil shale reserves which, if ever developed, would require water to accomplish the federal purpose for which the reservations were made.

The major issue—the scope of the consent-to-be-sued provision in 43 U.S.C. § 666—has been covered in the Eagle County opinion and need not be repeated here.

It is emphasized, however, that the procedures under the new Act are much more burdensome on the Government than they were under the older Act. It is pointed out that the new statute contemplates monthly proceedings before a water referee on water rights applications. These proceedings, it is argued, do not constitute general adjudications of water rights...