In the case of Nevada v. United States et al., 1982, the state of Nevada sued the federal government over water rights in Pyramid Lake and its feeder stream, Truckee River. The Supreme Court ruled that a previous decree from 1944 had settled all claims to these waters between California parties and Federal Government's Newlands Reclamation Project for irrigation purposes. However, it did not address any potential claims by or against Nevada directly as they were not part of those proceedings. Therefore, while this decree prevented further litigation on issues it covered (res judicata), it didn't bar new suits about matters outside its scope like environmental concerns raised by Nevada regarding preservation of fish species in Pyramid Lake which weren't considered before due to lack of legal framework at that time.

In the dissenting opinion for Nevada v. United States et al., Justice White disagreed with the majority's ruling that the federal government had fulfilled its obligation to protect Western Shoshone tribal lands from encroachment by settlers and miners. He argued that there was insufficient evidence to support this conclusion, particularly given that a significant portion of these lands remained in dispute at the time of trial. Furthermore, he criticized the Court's interpretation of an 1863 treaty between the U.S. and Western Shoshone as extinguishing their land rights without compensation or consent, asserting instead that it merely recognized pre-existing territorial boundaries rather than transferring ownership. In his view, any subsequent loss of control over these territories should have been treated as a taking requiring just compensation under Fifth Amendment principles.