OCR Text |
Show 30 Following the execution of the contract between the United States and the State of Arizona, and Arizona's "ratification" of the Colorado River Compact,7 the Bureau of Reclamation in cooperation with Arizona began investigation of a project, identified as the Central Arizona Project, designed to bring supplemental water from the mainstream of the Colorado River to a portion of the central Arizona area. The Commissioner of Reclamation submitted his report to the Secretary of the Interior on March 20, 1948, and on September 16, 1948, the Secretary of the Interior transmitted the report to Congress for its information and action.8 The following is a quotation from the Secretary's letter of transmittal. "The project has engineering feasibility and the proposed reimbursable costs probably can be repaid in 78 years under the plan outlined. . . . "The showing in the report of the availability of a substantial quantity of Colorado^River water for diversion to Central Arizona for irrigation and other purposes is based upon the assumption that the claims of the State of Arizona to this water are valid. It should be noted, however, as the regional director and the Commissioner of Reclamation pointed out, that the State of California has challenged the validity of Arizona's claims. If the contentions of the State of Arizona are correct, there is an ample water supply for this project. If the contentions of California are correct, there will be no dependable water supply available from the Colorado River for this diversion. While the necessary water supply is physically available at the present time in the Colorado River, the importance of the questions raised by the divergent views and claims of the States is apparent. The Bureau of Reclamation and the De- TAriz. Ex. 10. 8H. R. Doc. No. 136, 81st Cong., 1st Sess. (1949), Ariz. Exs. 65, 65A, 70. |
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Original Report: State of Arizona, complainant v. State of California, Palo Verde Irrigation District, Imperial 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 |