OCR Text |
Show 324 indicates that none of the tributary states will be able to utilize this water in the immediate future, and Supreme Court precedent requires that it not be reserved for one user against the possibility that another may appropriate it first. See cases cited at page 320, supra. The considerations set forth above also control disposition of the claims of the United States. Present United States uses on the tributaries, other than the Gila, are not contested by any of the parties to this suit, and the record indicates that there is no danger of insufficient water to supply them in the future. No substantial increased United States uses appear imminent. If such uses are developed in the future, and other tributary users contest them, it will then be time to determine the extent of United States rights in the tributaries. Unlike the mainstream, the tributaries are not subject to the legal and physical control of the Secretary of the Interior, and hence with them there is no necessity of determining priorities so that the Secretary may know how to discharge his duties. There is, therefore, no occasion for declaring the extent of rights to water in the tributaries asserted for the benefit of Indian Reservations and National Forests, Parks, Recreation Areas, Memorials, and Monuments as well as lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management. 2. The Gila River System. The interstate reaches of the Gila River System consist of parts of three streams, the Gila River proper and its tributaries, the San Francisco River and San Simon Creek. All of these streams have their headwaters in or near New Mexico, flow for a distance through that state and then enter Arizona. The State of New Mexico seeks in this action a decree apportioning a quantity of water from the Gila River System sufficient to satisfy present and future requirements |
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 |