OCR Text |
Show A66 APPENDIX 208 to their disadvantage, but is unjust and inequitable when it is considered that for the most part the water that constitutes the stream originates in the upper states; that it comes from precipitation that falls in the form of rain and snow upon their own mountains and adjacent to the lands within these states which may be irrigated therefrom. That because the development for agriculture in the upper states, due to the conditions prevailing there, will in the future be relatively slower than the development in the lower states, and, therefore, unless they are protected one of two things will happen- irrigation in the upper states will in the future be subordinate to power rights on the lower river, or the upper states must enter into a feverish and unnatural race for development with the lower states to preserve their rights of priority-and neither of these courses appeals to them. This attitude can be appreciated by us when we reflect upon the jealous regard and feeling of exclusive ownership held by the people of Arizona with respect to the use of the waters of the Verde, the Salt, and the Gila rivers. The people of the upper states, therefore, very naturally are opposed to any program of large development on the lower river until they can be assured of reasonable protection against the establishment of priority of right as against them through the proposed works on the river at Boulder canyon, at Glen canyon, and other storage sites where power development may be expected. They are prepared, in the absence of such assurance to violently oppose any appropriation by Congress or the giving of any other aid or assistance by the Federal Government for such purposes. The united opposition of four states within the basin, added to the indifference and possibly active opposition of the east and the middle west toward any large agricultural or industrial development in the mountain states through federal aid, is not to be despised, but on the contrary to be feared and removed if possible. The Colorado river compact is, therefore, an effort to remove any cause for this purely sectional feeling and opposition to the proposed development of the river at Boulder canyon, at Glen canyon, at Diamond creek, at Black canyon, and indeed at every point south of the Utah line. The compact is based upon two major assumptions. The first is that the waters of the river now running to waste are to be conserved by adequate storage reservoirs, and, second, that there is sufficient water in the river if conserved to meet all the demands for agricultural and domestic uses, both in the upper and lower basins, and in addition to meet all the probable demands of the southwest. That there is sufficient water for such purposes is no mere assumption, as may be shown upon a study of the river and of various estimates made by the reclamation service and by state engineers in the various states of lands capable of being irrigated within the basin. Let us consider |
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Original book: [State of Arizona, complainant v. State of California, Palo Verde Irrigation District, Coachella Valley County Water District, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, City of Los Angeles, California, City of San Diego, California, and County of San Diego, California, defendants, United States of America, State of Nevada, State of New Mexico, State of Utah, interveners] : |