OCR Text |
Show 218 Under the Reclamation Acts the Secretary is authorized to build dams and irrigation canals and to store and deliver water. Nobody may receive the stored water without a delivery contract. But the water rights of lands in reclamation projects are, under Section 8, governed, at least to some extent, by state law. Ickes v. Fox, 300 U. S. 82 (1937), on remand, Fox v. Ickes, 137 F.2d 30 (D.C. Cir. 1943); Nebraska v. Wyoming, 325 U.S. 589, 612-615 (1945). And, as the Supreme Court has but recently indicated, the water rights and priorities as between a reclamation project and other users within the same state are governed by state law. See Ivanhoe Irrigation District v. McCracken, 357 U. S. 275, 291 (1958). The fact that the Project Act is denominated as a supplement to the Reclamation Acts buttresses the conclusion, apparent from the plain language of Section 18 itself, that state law governs rights and priorities among intrastate users. The various delivery contracts made by the Secretary for delivery of water to reclamation projects, adjoining lands and special users are, with one exception, authorized by the Reclamation Acts, the Miscellaneous Special Use Act and the Project Act and are therefore valid. How much water a particular project or user may receive out of a state's total apportionment as against other users in the state who also have or may in the future obtain delivery contracts with the Secretary of the Interior must be decided under state law. The relevant issues for such a decision have not been tried and it would be impossible to determine here all of the relevant rights and priorities under the applicable state laws which would affect a project's water rights. Furthermore, persons who are the most concerned with this decision are other users or potential users in the states, who are not parties to this suit. Therefore, I have declined to accept the United States' invitation to determine the right of any reclamation |
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 |