United States v. Oregon

These consolidated appeals arise out of the State of Oregon’s attempts to adjudicate the rights of various claimants to the waters of the Klamath River Basin through a complex procedure created by state statute. We are called upon to address whether the State may compel the United States, the Klamath Indian Tribe and other owners of former reservation land to comply with certain terms of the state statute governing the Kla-math Basin adjudication.

I

Facts and Procedural History

In 1975, the Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD) invoked Oregon’s statutory procedure for the mass adjudication of water rights in order to determine all claims to surface water in the Klamath River Basin. The United States claims water rights in this basin on behalf of several federal agencies and as trustee for the Klamath Tribe. The State notified over 25,000 potential claimants, including appellants United States, the Kla-math Tribe and members of the Klamath Allottees Water Users Association (Association), a group of individuals who own former reservation land in fee. That same year, the United States filed a suit in federal district court seeking a declaration of the water rights of the United…