In re CSRBA (Case No. 49576), United States of America and Coeur d'Alene Tribe

The Coeur d'Alene Tribe (coplaintiff) historically depended on Lake Coeur d'Alene and the St. Joe River for food, transportation, and recreation before ceding the northern two-thirds of the lake to the United States (coplaintiff) while retaining the southern third and the river within reservation boundaries eventually ratified by Congress in 1891; over a century later, the United States and the tribe sought recognition of reservation water rights, presenting expert testimony that maintaining fish habitat even off-reservation was necessary since the tribe's fished species migrated up to 100 miles to spawn. The trial court recognized reserved rights for agriculture, fishing, hunting, domestic purposes, and on-reservation instream flows, but denied off-reservation instream flows and lake-level maintenance; Idaho appealed the on-reservation rulings as to non-tribal land, while the tribe and United States appealed the denial of off-reservation rights.