DC Circuit Declines to Revive Challenge to Crow Tribe Water Deal

Owners of trust allotments on a Montana reservation failed to convince the DC Circuit that a settlement agreement waiving prior water rights was invalid because it was effectuated after the statutory deadline.

The US Department of the Interior secretary reasonably determined the Crow (Apsáalooké) Tribe chair had the authority to agree to extend the deadline for the agency to publish a statement of findings, which put the agreement into force, Judge Neomi Rao of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit wrote in a Tuesday opinion.

The Crow Tribe and trust allotment owners waived their existing water ...