Cite as: 515 U. S. 1 (1995)
Opinion of Thomas, J.
juries alleged by Wyoming, the State could hardly point to the "considerable justification" necessary for "reopening an apportionment of interstate water rights." Nebraska II, supra, at 593.1
Yet precisely because the injunctive relief requested by Wyoming arises out of and depends on a body of law that exists independently of the decree, the Court errs in asserting that Wyoming "states a claim arising under the decree itself." Ante, at 20. This is so for two reasons. First, a claim that the United States must comply with applicable law and with contracts governed by such law—here, § 8 of the Reclamation Act of 1902, 32 Stat. 390, 43 U. S. C. §§ 372, 383, the Warren Act, ch. 141, 36 Stat. 925, 43 U. S. C. §§ 523- 525, and other federal and state riparian law, see ante, at 17—necessarily "arises under" that body of law. See, e. g., Franchise Tax Bd. of Cal. v. Construction Laborers Vacation Trust for Southern Cal., 463 U. S. 1, 8-9 (1983) (approving, as a principle of inclusion, "Justice Holmes' statement, 'A suit arises under the law that creates the cause of action' " (quoting American Well Works Co. v. Layne & Bowler Co., 241 U. S. 257, 260 (1916))).
Second, although a decree entered by this Court could conceivably afford an additional and separate basis for ordering
1 To the Court, "[i]t seems very clear . . . that Wyoming is seeking a modification of the decree in order to enforce its predicate." Ante, at 20, n. 2. I would expect such clarity to show in the language of the Fourth Cross-Claim itself, but the prayer for relief notably fails to include the word "modify" or its synonyms. In this regard, the Fourth Cross-Claim stands in marked contrast to Wyoming's other cross-claims and its counterclaims against Nebraska. Compare App. to Report E-12 (Fourth Cross-Claim's prayer for relief) with id., at E-6, E-7, E-8, E-10, E-11, E-12 (other prayers). Wyoming is not left "hanging" by its failure to seek a modification of the decree as to the United States' compliance with applicable riparian law and with its contracts. Ante, at 19-20, n. 2. As I explain infra, at 27-28, the State may seek its requested relief in another forum.
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