OCR Text |
Show 302 four parties rather than the three it named, surely it would have said so. As noted before, the Secretary's contracts substantially effectuate the apportionment authorized by Congress, and therefore should be construed in conformity with the congressional intent. Moreover, the Arizona contract, by its express terms, requires this result. Article 7(1) of the contract provides as follows: "All consumptive uses of water by users in Arizona, of water diverted from Lake Mead or from the mainstream of the Colorado River below Boulder [Hoover] Dam, whether made under this contract or not, shall be deemed, when made, a discharge pro tanto of the obligation of this contract." This provision requires federal uses in Arizona to be limited by the contractual apportionment. The Secretary, having apportioned total consumptive use of mainstream water among the three states, has safeguarded himself by this contract provision, which says in substance: the contract apportionment is the maximum that can be consumed in Arizona, whoever the user may be, whether or not a contractee. Although the Nevada contract is not as explicit in limiting United States' uses to the state's apportionment as is the language of the California limitation and the Arizona contract, the Nevada contract was intended to carry out the apportionment contemplated by Congress and to correlate Nevada's apportionment to those of the other two states. Hence, the same result must follow as to United States' uses in Nevada. In the light of my earlier conclusion that consumptive uses by the United States are to be charged to the states, and of the provisions and purposes of the Project Act and water delivery contracts, I hold that the uses of the United States within each state are limited by that state's apportionment, except to the extent that such uses are protected by Section 6 of the Project Act |
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 |