| OCR Text |
Show COMMENTS OF THE STATE OF COLORADO twecn present uses or depletions within each basin and the quantities of water heretofore apportioned to each basin by the Colorado River compact. While there may be disagreement among individual States concerning interpretations of some provisions of the compact, there appears to be no basis for dispute between the two basins concerning these facts: (i) By articles III (a) and (b) thereof, the Colorado River compact apportioned 7,500,000 acre-feet of water per annum to the upper basin, and 8,500,000 acre-feet per annum to the lower basin; and (2) by article III (f) the compact specified that1 at any time after October 1, 1963, if and when either basin shall have reached the total beneficial consumptive use of said quantities of water, further equitable apportionment may be undertaken of the surplus water over and above the quantities heretofore apportioned, and over and above the surplus awarded to Mexico by the treaty between the United States and Mexico. According to the report the so-called "present" depletions or uses, in the two basins, may be summarized as follows: Upper basin, existing 2,200,000 acre-feet, increase allowance 556,000 acre-feet, total "present" 2,756,000 acre-feet; lower basin, existing 4,918,000 acre-feet, increase allowance 3,583,000 acre-feet, total "present" 8,501,000 acre-feet. Under the apportionment provisions of the Colorado River compact, and upon the findings of the report, as to present depletions of stream-flows or uses of water, it is apparent that new and additional projects may be constructed in the future in the upper basin, with aggregate uses or depletions up to 4,744,000 acre-feet annually, without thereby exceeding the apportionment to the upper basin heretofore made by the compact. In the lower basin, however, no new or additional projects can be undertaken, until after October 1, 1963, except to the extent that possible future expansions under existing projects recognized by the report be correspondingly curtailed or prohibited. The State of Colorado suggests that the report contains plans and proposals which disregard this patent fact, and recommends that the report be modified to correct this omission. Comprehensive Planning Must Conform to Orderly Construction of Desired and Justified Projects Concerning recommendation 3, paragraph 70, of the regional directors' report, the State of Colorado concurs in and approves of that portion of the proposal involving increased appropriations by Congress' and expenditures by the Bureau of Reclamation and other agencies of the Department of the Interior, in order that more complete and accurate data concerning the production, use, and disposal of waters of the Colorado River system may become available to the Congress and the affected States. 59 This is also necessary to continue and expedite the completion of detailed investigations and individual project designs and reports, to the end that an orderly and progressive development of the Colorado River Basin, as defined by the Colorado River compact, may be assured. Such a development will provide supplemental water supplies as needed for municipal, irrigation, and industrial purposes and provide adequate and regulated supplies of water for lands that await reclamation by irrigation. Incidental to such reclamation development, will be the production of hydroelectric power the improvement of recreational advantages, and other opportunities in the public interest. However, Colorado cannot subscribe to that proposal of the report which claims or infers that such appropriations and expenditures are necessary or desirable in order for the Department of Interior to formulate and carry out a comprehensive plan of development at this time or in the near future. Instead, the orderly and progressive development, above mentioned, should be carried on by the construction from time to time of those individual projects which, upon investigation, (1) are feasible, justified, and needed; (2) are within each State's equitable but as yet unestablished share of water; (3) are desired by local beneficiaries after their repayment obligations are known; and (4) entail construction costs which may be financed by congressional appropriations or otherwise. Experience teaches that the necessary investigational program will require many years to complete; that the construction of some projects may be carried on while investigations of others are underway; that neither the needs of future generations nor the dictates of financial policies can be anticipated too far in advance. Hence the view of Colorado is that any plan for the comprehensive and ultimate development of the Colorado River Basin, which might now be formulated by the Department of Interior, will be modified from time to time. Further, Colorado points out that the report itself recognizes that a comprehensive plan is contingent in a major way upon the ultimate determination of the apportionment of water to the individual States. It can be reasonably expected that upon the determination of such allocations, each affected State will exert an important influence in shaping the development within its borders and within its share of Colorado River water, consistent with common operational features on the river and the provisions of the Colorado River compact. Joint Action of All Seven States Is Not Necessary to an Allocation of Water The report recommends "that the States of the Colorado River Basin determine their respective rights to deplete the flow of the Colorado River consistent with |
