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Show 3. Conflicts between Upstream and Downstream Interes ts The Problem The ex; tent of conflict between and associated with domestic, irrigation, industrial, and other uses of water. The Situation Within the 530,000 square mile watershed of the Missouri River, the many different climatic conditions exert much influence upon the use of water. Water resources are limited, particularly west of thie ninety-eighth meridian, so that careful control is essential to their maximum usefulness. With control, conflicts and competition between various water uses may arise. There is a long record of conflict over water rights in these areas of water scarcity. Most States in semiarid regions have endeavored to resolve these differences by moving from the doctrine of riparian rights to the doctrine of ap- propriation, under which the first in time is first in right. In numerous instances the allotted rights are many times larger than the available water sup- ply. In such a situation it is evident that conflicts among different types of water use also can arise. There is a general division between the upper and lower parts of the basin as to which should be the dominant purposes. Upstream, the im- portant uses are irrigation, industrial supply, recrea- tion, and fish and wildlife habitat. In the lower river, public and industrial water supply, naviga- tion, and dilution of sewage and wastes are major functions. There is evidence of conflicting interests regard- ing releases of water for some purposes. In some areas there seems to be competition between irri- gation and sanitation interests, primarily when limited available water released for diluting treated sewage appears lost to irrigation. Yet, municipal- ities have long used the flowing streams as vehicles for sewage disposal. Irrigation interests in the western part of the basin, under State laws, have a right to retain water for application to semiarid lands. In some instances, this may conflict with municipal and industrial water supply, fish and wildlife, and sani- tation. Established water rights, primarily to per- mit irrigation in the South Platte watershed, have interfered with sanitation and fish habitat below Denver, Colo., and at other locations on tributary streams. Water available in the Big Sioux Basin is insuf- ficient to satisfy current needs for public and industrial water supply, recreation use3 and ulti- mate waste disposal. An exceptionally high degree of treatment, approaching the limit of economic feasibility, has already been provided for domestic and industrial wastes at Sioux Falls, S. Dak. Even after this treatment, however, nuisance conditions occur during periods of low flow. An unfavorable fish habitat is presented both here and at various upstream places, where smaller communities pro- vide secondary sewage treatment. The competition for water along a number of tributaries has been manifest in long periods of negotiation among the various States. In some in- stances issues have been settled amicably by inter- state compacts, which must be ratified by the legislatures of the States concerned and Congress. The Belle Fourche Compact between South Dakota and Wyoming is an example. Where negotiation has failed to reach agreement, issues over the consumptive use of water have been referred to Federal courts as in the North Platte River Basin. The conflicting demands of Ne- braska, Wyoming, and Colorado were reconciled by a decree of the Supreme Court of the United States in 1945.7 Water resources programs in areas affected by compacts and decrees must take them into account whether or not they permit the most economic or efficient water use. More serious competition among water uses may appear in future programs unless proper precautions are taken. The recent plans for flood control, ir- rigation, navigation, power, sanitation, municipal water supply, stock water, recreation, and fish and wildlife, envisage reasonably complete use of the water resources. Both on a local and on a basin- wide scale careful adjustment of use to water avail- ability may be necessary. Availability of water, moreover, must be consid- ered not only in the light of basin needs but also in relation to interbasin diversions. To supplement inadequate water supplies in the South Platte River area, Colorado River water is being diverted across the Continental Divide for use by Denver and in irrigation. Water may be exported from the basin through the Missouri-Souris development. This authorized diversion is from Fort Peck Reservoir across Montana and North Dakota to the Souris 'Nebraska v. Wyoming, 325 U. S. 589 (1945). 201 |