IV 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 454 
Commemorating over half a century of adjudication under the McCarran 
Amendment of rights to the use of water. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 17, 2004 
Mr. MCINNIS submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Commemorating over half a century of adjudication under 
the McCarran Amendment of rights to the use of water. 
Whereas section 208 of the Department of Justice Appropria-
tion Act, 1953 (commonly known as the McCarran 
Amendment) (43 U.S.C. 666) waived the sovereign im-
munity of the United States so that it could be joined in 
comprehensive State general adjudications of the rights 
to use water; 
Whereas in United States v. District Court for Eagle County, 
401 U.S. 520, 524 (1971), the Supreme Court confirmed 
that the McCarran Amendment was ‘‘an all-inclusive 
statute concerning ‘the adjudication of rights to the use 
of water of a river system’ which . . . has no exceptions 
and . . . includes appropriative rights, riparian rights, 
and reserved rights’’;
•HCON 454 IH 
Whereas in Colorado River Water Conservation District v. 
United States, 424 U.S. 800, 819 (1976), the Supreme 
Court concluded that the concern over ‘‘avoiding the gen-
eration of additional litigation through permitting incon-
sistent dispositions of property . . . is heightened with re-
spect to water rights, the relationships among which are 
highly interdependent’’ and that the ‘‘consent to jurisdic-
tion given by the McCarran Amendment bespeaks a pol-
icy that recognizes the availability of comprehensive state 
systems for adjudication of water rights as the means of 
achieving these goals’’; 
Whereas since the passage of the McCarran Amendment, 
Federal and non-Federal users, along with numerous 
Western States, have invested millions of dollars in water 
right adjudications in those States to establish rights to 
the use of water that will determine priority of use dur-
ing times of scarcity; 
Whereas State water laws in the West have evolved to accom-
modate instream values such as recreation and environ-
mental needs, while continuing to recognize and protect 
traditional consumptive uses for the West’s cities and 
farms; 
Whereas Federal claims for water have been recognized under 
both Federal and State laws within State general adju-
dications, thus enhancing the protection of Federal inter-
ests, as well as the certainty and reliability of non-Fed-
eral interests, in water in the West; 
Whereas the significance of the McCarran Amendment, in 
providing States with the ability to determine the extent 
of Federal claims to water resources, has become increas-
ingly apparent as many of the Western States are experi-
•HCON 454 IH 
encing a severe and sustained drought, where water sup-
plies for all purposes are severely restricted; and 
Whereas now more than ever there is a pressing need to rec-
ognize and support the availability of comprehensive sys-
tems for quantification of rights to use water in those 
Western States for all beneficial purposes: Now, there-
fore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That the Congress— 
(1) reaffirms the policies and principles of the 
McCarran Amendment that have been recognized by 
Supreme Court decisions and recognizes that, as a 
matter of practice, the United States should adhere 
and defer to State water law; and 
(2) commends Western States that maintain 
comprehensive systems for the quantification of 
rights to use water for all beneficial purposes, in-
cluding environmental protection and enhancement. 
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