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37 Ariz. L. Rev. 1305 (1995)
Endangered Species Act and Extinction of Reserved Indian Water Rights on the San Juan River

handle is hein.journals/arz37 and id is 1321 raw text is: THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT AND EXTINCTION OF RESERVED INDIAN WATER RIGHTS ON THE SAN JUAN RIVER Adrian N. Hansen* I. INTRODUCTION A major tributary of the legendary Colorado River, the San Juan River bisects the spectacularly stark Four Comers1 region of the southwestern United States. Arising in the lofty peaks of southwest Colorado, the river flows 360 miles to empty into Lake Powell in Utah.2 After tumbling out of the high country, the San Juan traverses the Southern Ute Indian Reservation in Colorado and drains the Jicarilla Apache Reservation to the south in New Mexico. Not far downstream, the river enters the Navajo Indian Reservation for the meandering balance of its journey, straying briefly onto the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation in Colorado (see map infra page 1306). Despite living along the San Juan and its tributaries for countless generations, the Indian tribes within these reservations have only recently obtained federal funding for reclamation projects to finally develop their San Juan River water rights.3 Yet the outlook for completion of these projects is bleak. The federal government has constructed massive reclamation projects largely for the benefit of non-Indians downstream that have effected enormous changes to the natural state of the Colorado River system.4 As a result, native fish populations have declined so drastically that they now require the considerable protections of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA or the Act).5 Enforcement of the ESA by the federal government has preempted new projects for the development of Indian water from the San Juan River, destroying the tribes' ability to use their senior water rights while allowing this water to continue flowing downstream for the benefit of users claiming a lesser priority.6 * The author gratefully acknowledges Stanley M. Pollack, who suggested the topic of this Note and provided critical review. Thanks also to Professor Robert Jerome Glennon and Special Master John E. Thorson for insightful comments on earlier drafts. This Note-is dedicated to Eldon W. and June D. Hansen. 1. The Four Comers describes the point where the state boundaries of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona intersect. 2. PHILIP L. FRADKIN, A RIVER No MORE 31 (1981). 3. See infra notes 97-116 and accompanying text. 4. See infra notes 197-99 and accompanying text. 5. Pub. L. No. 93-205, 87 Stat. 884 (1973) (codified as amended at 16 U.S.C. §§ 1531-44 (1988 & Supp. 1994)). 6. See infra notes 179-99 and accompanying text.

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