OCR Text |
Show -73- neoessary to prepare a draft, and in preparing it the former draft of a compact, which had been discussed in Congress was taken as a basis, but changes, de- letions, and additions vrere made to eliminate, insofar as practicable at that stage, the objections to the original contract which had been advanced by Federal agencies, during the time that the legislation concerning the former draft had been in Togress in the Congress. As an example, the so-called para- mountcy clause was framed in the following language, as recommended by the Federal Power Commission in its letter of October 18, I9I1I, to Hon. Compton I. White, chairman of the House Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation* I "will read that recommended clause which was proposed as a substitute for the nonnavigable clause in article I of the formerly proposed compact* The use of the waters of the Republican River and tributaries thereof within the basin, as hereinabove defined, for "beneficial consumptive use," as hereinbelow defined, shall constitute paramount use and any other use shall be subservient thereto* At the time the preliminary draft was prepared, I understood that the quoted language was acceptable to the Federal Power Commission. Likewise re- commendations made in the report of the Interior Department to the same House committee on October 21, 19^1* were incorporated in the preliminary draft. Those recommendations had been prepared for the purpose of removing ambiguities and clarifying provisions which mir]nt have been construed so as to limit or to impair Federal rights and powers unduly, and to subject certain Federal pro- perty to State taxation and to State legislative control* The allocations made in the former draft of compact were adhered to, and they remain the same in the compact which is before the Congress now and which you are discussing today. One purpose of preparing this preliminary draft was to *;et the opinion of representatives of the Federal agencies concerned as a basis of negotiations at a meeting to be held in Denver early in December. Suggestions were received from the Der^artments of Agriculture, Interior, and Yifar, and b; the Federal Power Commission. The first meeting of the compact commission convened in Denver December 2,, 19li2• Those present, in addition to the three State commissioners and the repre- sentative of the United States, were legal advisers of the State commissioner's, and representatives of the Departments of Agriculture, Interior, and YJar» All suggestions made by the representatives of the Federal agencies were given careful attention, and particularly thorough consideration was given t o the Federal Power Commission's desire presented in a letter to me of November JO, 19^2, to have the paramountcy clause eliminated from the preliminary draft. The State commissioners were very much disturbed about the desire of the Federal Power Commission to eliminate that clause, because they felt that the effective- ness of the proposed compact required specific assurance by the Federal Govern- ment that the allocations of the water and the rights established thereundei- •would be recognized. After much discussion, the State commissioners were unan- imous in the opinion that an adequate compact could not be consummated by tHe States without providing, in some manner, for allocating the water according to the principle of beneficial consumption use, and for protecting the right of such use when once established. |