2007

Mattaponi Indian Tribe v. Commonwealth

Virginia Circuit Court

72 Va. Cir. 444

Reservation of Mattaponi Tribe was located on Mattaponi River. The King William Reservoir Project was to be built upstream from the Reservation. The Tribe asserted it would violate the Treaty of 1677 and infringe on its rights in and to the waters of the Mattaponi River. Defendants denied the reservoir would infringe on any rights. Court held that wording of Treaty was ambiguous and would require a hearing. Court further held that a riparian right, from land abutting a water source, was a valuable property right. It included the right to make reasonable use of water as it flowed past the land. Injury to this right entitled an owner to damages. If a riparian right was sought for public use it may be taken by eminent domain. However, in the absence of any claim of necessity of sufficient water to invoke the doctrine of reserved water rights of a tribe as stated in Winters v. United States, 207 U.S. 574 (1908), the court sustained a demurrer to that count and the Tribe’s case would have to rely on the protection of riparian rights.

Back to Case Finder Main Page
Volume One Indexes:
To Case Name Index
To Topic Index
To Date Index
To Code Section Index