OCR Text |
Show 152 These provisions, together with the general operational scheme established in the Act and the purposes of the Act explicated in the legislative history, make it clear that the Project Act was designed by Congress to establish the authority for an allocation of all of the available water in Lake Mead and in the mainstream of the Colorado River downstream from Lake Mead among Arizona, California and Nevada, the only states having geographic access to this water. As to this water, principles such as equitable apportionment or priority of appropriation which might otherwise have controlled the interstate division of the River in its natural flow condition were rendered inapplicable by the Project Act.19 The Act itself clearly reserves to the United States broad powers over the water impounded in Lake Mead and delegates this power to the Secretary of the Interior, as agent of the United States. He is specifically authorized to impound the water of the Colorado River in Lake Mead and to exercise custody over the water so impounded through his control, management and operation of the dam and reservoir. No user, whether it be a state or an individual, may receive the impounded water unless the Secretary, by contract, agrees to release it for delivery to that user. Nothing in the Act purports to require the Secretary to agree to deliver specific quantities of water to any particular state or user, except that Section 6 requires him to satisfy water rights perfected as of June 25, 1929.20 On the con- 19Since the Project Act does not affect rights to water flowing in the Colorado River upstream from Lake Mead, see page 183, infra, the application of these principles to this reach of the River has not been abrogated by the Project Act. 20Section 6 of the Project Act directs that Hoover Dam be operated in "satisfaction of present perfected rights in pursuance of Article VIII of said Colorado River compact. . . ." Article VIII states: "Present perfected rights . . . are unimpaired by this compact." The phrase "present perfected rights" means rights perfected when the Act became effective. A statute speaks as of its effective |
Source |
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 |