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Show APPENDIX IX IX-15 argued that Arizona should bear more than half the Lower Basin's Mexican burden because in addition to the 2,800,000 acre-feet allotted her by the Act she would get the Gila, which he erroneously estimated at 3,500,000 acre-feet.60 Senator Pittman, who had sat in on the Governors' conference, likewise understood that the water was being allocated from "the main Colorado River."61 And other interested Senators similarly distinguished between the mainstream and the tributaries.62 While the debates, extending over a long period of years, undoubtedly contain statements which support inferences in conflict with those we have drawn, we are persuaded by the legislative history as a whole that the Act was not intended to give California any claim to share in the tributary waters of the other Lower Basin States. C. The Project Act's Apportionment and Distribution Scheme.-The legislative history, the language of the Act, and the scheme established by the Act for the storage and delivery of water convince us also that Congress intended to provide its own method for a complete apportionment of the mainstream water among Arizona, California, and Nevada. First, the legislative history. In hearings on the House bill that became the Project Act, Congressman Arentz of Nevada, apparently impatient with the delay of this much needed project, told the committee on January 6, 1928, that if the States could not themselves allocate the water, "there must be some power which will say to California 'You can not take any more than this amount and the balance is allocated to the other States.' "6S Later, May 25, 1928, the House passed the bill,64 but it did not contain any allocation scheme. When the Senate took up that bill in December, pressure mounted swiftly for amendments that would provide a workable method for apportioning the waters among the Lower Basin States and distributing them to users in the States. The session convened on December 3, 1928, on the fifth the Senate took up the bill,65 nine days later the bill with significant amendments passed the Senate,66 four days after that the House concurred in the Senate's action,67 and on the twenty-first the President signed the bill.68 When the bill first reached the Senate floor, it had a provision, added in committee, limiting California to 4,600,000 acre-feet,69 and Senator Hayden on December 6 proposed reducing that share to 4,200,000.70 The next day, December 7, Mr. Pittman, senior Senator from Nevada, vigorously argued that Congress should settle the matter without delay. He said, "What is the difficulty? We have only minor questions involved here. There is practically nothing involved except a dispute between the States of Arizona and California with regard to the division of the increased water that will be impounded behind the proposed dam; that is all. . . . Of the 7,500,000 acre-feet of water let down that river they have gotten together within 400,000 acre-feet. They have got to get together, and if they do not get together Congress should bring them together."71 The day after that, December 8, New Mexico's Senator Bratton suggested an amendment splitting the difference between the demands of Arizona and California by limiting California to 4,400,000 acre-feet.72 On the tenth, reflecting the prevailing sense of urgency for decisive action, Senator Bratton emphasized that this was not a dispute limited simply to two States: "The two States have exchanged views, they have negotiated, they have endeavored to reach an agreement, and until now have been unable to do so. This controversy does not affect those two States alone. It affects other States in the Union and the Government as well. ••/d., at 466-467. "Id., at 469. See also id., at 232. "See id., at 463 (Shortridge); id., at 465 (King). "Hearings on H. R. 5773, supra note 25, at 50. "69 Cong. Rec. 9990 (1928). >'7O Cong. Rec. 67 (1928). "/d., at 603. "Id., at 837-838. "45 Stat. 1057. "See S. Rep. No. 592, 70th Cong., 1st Sess. 2 (1928). "70 Cong. Rec. 162 (1928). "Id., at 232. "Id., at 277, 385. |
