U.S. Dept. of Justice files motion in support of Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians

PALM SPRINGS - The U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion in federal court today asking to file a complaint in support of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians in its suit against two local water agencies for groundwater rights.

The documents ask the court to hold that the United States ''has federal reserved rights to sufficient groundwater as is necessary to fulfill the purposes of the tribe's reservation and to protect any prior rights of the tribe,'' and that the government seeks to dissuade the agencies -- the Coachella Valley Water District and the Desert Water Agency -- from ''i...