In Winters v. United States (1908), the Supreme Court held that the right to use waters flow- ing through or adjacent to the
(5) Fort Berthold Indian Reservation was reserved to American Indians by the treaty establishing the reservation. Although this treaty did not mention water rights, the Court
(10) ruled that the federal government, when it created the reservation, intended to deal fairly with American Indians by preserving for them the waters without which
(15) their lands would have been use less. Later decisions, citing Winters, established that courts can find federal rights to reserve water for particular purposes if
(20) (1) the land in question lies within an enclave under exclusive federal jurisdiction, (2) the land has been formally withdrawn from federal public lands — i.e., withdrawn from
(25) the stock of federal lands available for private use under federal land use laws — and set aside or reserved, and (3) the circumstances reveal the government
(30) intended to reserve water as well as land when establishing the reservation. Some American Indian tribes have also established water rights
(35) through the courts based on their traditional diversion and use of certain waters prior to the United States’ acquisition of sovereignty. For example, the Rio Grande
(40) pueblos already existed when the United States acquired sovereignty over New Mexico in 1848. Although they at that time became part of the United States, the pueblo lands
(45) never formally constituted a part of federal public lands; in any event, no treaty, statute, or executive order has ever designated or withdrawn the pueblos from
(50) public lands as American Indian reservations. This fact, however, has not barred application of the Winters doctrine. What constitutes an American Indian
(55) reservation is a question of practice, not of legal definition, and the pueblos have always been treated as reservations by the United States. This pragmatic
(60) approach is buttressed by Arizona v. California (1963), wherein the Supreme Court indicated that the manner in which any type of federal reservation is created does not
(65) affect the application to it of the Winters doctrine. Therefore, the reserved water rights of Pueblo Indians have priority over other citizens’ water rights as of 1848,
(70) the year in which pueblos must be considered to have become reservations.established that courts can find federal rights to reserve water for particular purposes
在winter一案中，法庭认为Fort Berthold Indian Reservation在被reserved成保留地（established by treaty）时有水权，虽然在treaty中没有明确提到水权，但是法庭认为联邦政府在创建保留地时，intended to preserve水权给indian american。在3种条件下，政府具有分配水权for particular purpose的权利。。1政府对该片土地具有jurisdiction。2。这片土地从public land中割出来。（则不属于public land了。政府就有权利了）3保留地情况下。（这三点就是所谓的winter dotrine）
