RESERVED WATER RIGHTS (FEDERAL)

A category of federal water rights, created by federal law. These rights are created when the federal government withdraws land from the public domain to establish a federal reservation such as a national park, forest, or Indian reservation. By this action, the government is held to have reserved water rights sufficient for the primary purpose for which the land was withdrawn. Also see Winters Rights (Decision), Reservation Doctrine, Reserved Rights Doctrine, and Winters Doctrine (or Winters Rights), and Water Law (Federal).