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Show -81- President appointed me to "be the representative of the United States by his letter -of September 15, 1942» STATE COMMISSIONERS The following commissioners acted in behalf of their States in the negotiation of a new compacts M* C* Hinderlider, for Colorado• George S. Knapp, for Kansas Gardner G. Scott, for Nebraska PRELIMINARY ARRANGEMENTS FOR NEGOTIATIONS As a first step toward the ensuing negotiations, a preliminary draft of a compact was prepared<> The compact which had been previously proposed formed the basis of the draft, but changes,¦ deletions or additions were made to eliminate^ insofar as practicable at that stage, the objections to' the original compact which had been advanced by Federal agencies in their reports to Congress on H R 4647 H* R 5945, and S 1361 to the committees in Congress For example, the much-disputed declaration of nonnavigability in article I of the former draft was replaced by the so- called paramountcy clause, framed in the following language, recommended by the Federal Power Commission in its letter of October 18. I9L&9 to Hon» Compton I« "White, chairman of the House Committee on Irrigation and Recla- mations ''The use of the waters of the Republican River and tributaries there- of within the basin* as hereinabove defined, for 'beneficial consumptive use,* as hereinbelow defined, shall constitute paramount use and any other use shall be subservient theretool? At the time the preliminary draft was prepared, I understand that the quoted language was acceptable to the Federal Power Commission. Likewise, recommendations, made in the report of the Interior Department to the same House coimriittee on October 21, 19^1* were incorporated in the preliminary draftu The latter recommendations had been prepared for the purpose of1 removing ambiguities, and clarifying provisions which might have been c?on- strued so as to limit or to impair Federal rights and powers unduly, and tc subject certain Federal property to State taxation and to State legis- lative control., No changes were made in the allocation of water, which is the same in the proposed compact now before Congress as in the compact formerly pro- posed. The preliminary draft was forwarded by separate letters to repre- sentatives of the Department of Agriculture, Federal Power Commission, De- partment of the Interior, and the 1'Iar Department, on November I4. and 5* 19^ accompanied by my request that the provisions in it be reviewed to as- certain whether they protected Federal interests, and that I be advised either of the agency's approval or of changes desired* Those letters also indicated that it would be desirable for each Federal agency to send an adviser to attend the first meeting of the Republican River compact com- mission which had tentatively been scheduled to be held in Denver earLy in December. |
