The Supreme Court in the US has rejected an appeal by a number of native American tribes that want to stop Arizona Snowbowl ski area from making snow from recycled and purified waste water to use on the ski slopes which the tribes say are sacred lands.

The plans have been mooted for the best part of a decade and have been considered by various lower courts which have alternately decided in favour of the ski area and of the tribes. Last summer the Federal courts came down in favour of the ski resort, leading to the attempt to bring the case to the supreme court.
The ski resort argues that the purified waste water is actually cleaner than normal tap water. It is already widely used in the state on agricultural land, golf courses and school playing fields and snow has been made from wastewater at other US resorts, including Killington, and in Australia. In the latter case it has been heralded as a much environmentally friendly achievement. However the indigenous tribes believe that the using purified waste water to make snow is essentially the same as dumping sewage on their sacred land.
The Supreme Court decided not to allow the action and to allow the last legal result in the lower court in favour of Arizona Snowbowl to stand. They decided that as the ski area is based on US National Forest rather than tribally owned land it was up to the state to decide how the land is used.
Arizona Snowbowl say they have no plans to introduce waste water snowmaking for the coming season.

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