During consideration of the Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act (S. 914), Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) offered an amendment to “limit the authority to reserve water rights in designating a national monument.” The amendment stated: “(1) No reservation of water rights. — In designating a national monument under subsection (a), the President may not reserve any implied or expressed water rights associated with the national monument. (2) Applicable law. — Water rights associated with a national monument designated under subsection (a) may be acquired for the national monument only in accordance with the laws of the State in which the water rights are located.”
The Senate rejected Lee’s amendment on April 29, 2021 by a vote of 41 to 54 (Roll Call 177). We have assigned pluses to the yeas because the Constitution does not grant the federal government the power to designate national monuments or to grant water rights.
