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Show 26 WAR FOR THE COLORADO RIVER the Interior and the other six states of the basin to stop construction of the dam. The court also was asked by Arizona to declare the Colorado River Compact and the Boulder Canyon Project Act unconstitutional. 11 -The Supreme Court, in dismissing the Arizona suit, declared: (a) Authority to construct Hoover Dam was a valid exercise of Congressional power, (b) The Boulder Canyon Project Act did not abridge the water rights of Arizona, (c) There was no threat to Arizona by Secretary Wilbur or the other basin states. 12 - Twice more Arizona appealed to the Supreme Court on other phases of the controversy, and twice more Arizona's pleas were denied. 13 -Arizona's next step was to threaten the use of military force to stop development of the river. At this time, 1934-1935, Parker Dam was being built, 155 miles downstream from Hoover Dam. Parker Dam created the reservoir - Lake Havasu - from which Colorado River water began its long trans-desert journey by aqueduct to Los Angeles and numerous other cities on the coastal plain of Southern California. The dam was built by the Federal Government with money con- tributed by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, a publicly-owned enterprise. Arizona sent its State Militia, armed with rifles and machine guns, to stop the construction of Parker Dam, and they did so. In January 1935, the Federal Govern- ment brought action in the Supreme Court to halt Arizona's acts of violence, asking an injunction. The court did not grant the injunction because the complaint of the government had failed to show that construction of Parker Dam was authorized by statute. However, Congress corrected this oversight by reauthorizing the |
