You can keep your children, but you're not getting any water

The Supreme Court has ruled against the Navajo Nation in its effort to make the U.S. take steps to secure water from the Colorado River for the tribe.

In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled that a 1868 treaty did not require the country to take “affirmative steps” to secure water for the tribe.

At issue is an 1868 treaty under which the federal government guaranteed the nation’s agricultural needs, which the Navajo Nation argues includes water rights.

  The Hill

I would think that goes without saying.

Tribal governments in the suit also cite the so-called Winters doctrine, based on the 1908 Winters v. United States court case, which established that the creation of a Native American reservation also reserves the water necessary for its purposes.

The 1868 peace treaty in question established a reservation for the Navajo and granted them the right to use needed water on the reservation.

Yeah, the United States isn't very good at keeping its treaties.

In a concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas took issue with another piece of the tribe’s case.

He wrote that when a lower court allowed the Navajo Nation’s “breach of trust” claim to go forward, it recognized a “generic legal duty of the Federal Government toward Indian tribes” — which he took issue with.

“The Nation has pointed to no source of legally enforceable duties supporting its claim in this suit. But the Ninth Circuit’s reasoning reflects deeper problems with this Court’s frequent invocation of the Indian ‘trust relationship,’” he wrote.

Hateful asshole. Apparently he sees no moral requirement either. Come to think of it, he has proven himself lacking morals time and again ever since he was nominated to his seat on the bench - and before.

“In the Tribe’s view, the 1868 treaty imposed a duty on the United States to take affirmative steps to secure water for the Navajo. With respect, the Tribe is incorrect,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote for the majority.

Let them die.  "With respect," your honor is a dirtbag.

Neil Gorsuch, a fervent defender of tribal rights [...] wrote a dissenting opinion joined by the court’s three liberals.

[...]

In 2021, a San Francisco federal appeals court sided with the tribe, allowing it to sue in support of the affirmative duty. The Biden admi appealed the decision, with the high court hearing the consolidated appeals.

Apparently, the Biden administration and the states of Arizona, Nevada and Colorado also see no moral requirements.

In their arguments before the court, the states argued that siding with the Navajo Nation would represent a major disruption to management of the Colorado River.

And they all want the scarce resources of the Colorado River. Now they can get on to suing and arguing against each other for those resources. Where's the Biden administration going to be in that fight?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.