Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/22pdf/21-1484_aplc.pdf
Page Number: 46

Cite as:  599 U. S. ____ (2023) 

25 

GORSUCH, J., dissenting 

this Court allowed a claim for money damages based on the 
United States’ breach of its “fiduciary duty to manage land 
and improvements” on a reservation.  537 U. S., at 468.  The 
Tribe  defended the right to bring that claim by pointing to
a  statute  declaring  certain  lands  would  be  “ ‘held  by  the 
United States in trust’ ” for the Tribe and allowing the Sec-
retary of the Interior to use “ ‘any part’ ” of those lands “ ‘for 
administrative or school purposes.’ ”  Id., at 469.  In holding
that  statute  sufficient  to  support  a  claim  for  money  dam-
ages,  this  Court  emphasized  the  United  States  exercised 
authority over the assets at issue and had considerable “dis-
cretionary authority” over their use.  Id., at 475. 

Held  even  to  these  yardsticks,  the  Navajo’s  complaint 
easily measures up.  Our Winters decisions recognize that
the United States holds reserved water rights “[a]s a fidu-
ciary” for the Tribes.  Arizona II, 460 U. S., at 627–628 (em-
phasis added).  The United States’ control over adjacent wa-
ter sources—including the Colorado River—is “elaborate.” 
Mitchell II.  463 U. S., at 225; see also Arizona I, 373 U. S., 
at  564–565;  White  Mountain  Apache  Tribe,  537  U. S.,  at 
475.  It can dole out water in parts of the Colorado by con-
tract.  43 U. S. C. §617d.  And, of course, the United States 
has expressly acknowledged that it holds water rights “in
trust” for the Navajo, see Brief for Federal Parties 37; Tr. of 
Oral Arg. 40, perhaps including rights in the Colorado River 
mainstream, id., at 33.  Given these features, the Navajo’s 
complaint more than suffices to state a claim for relief. 

IV 

Where do the Navajo go from here?  To date, their efforts 
to  find  out  what  water  rights  the  United  States  holds  for
them have produced an experience familiar to any Ameri-
can who has spent time at the Department of Motor Vehi-
cles.  The Navajo have waited patiently for someone, any-
one, to help them, only to be told (repeatedly) that they have
been standing in the wrong line and must try another.  To