OCR Text |
Show Laramie River Litigation Wyoming v. Colorado 259 U.S. 419 (1922) This was an original suit, brought in this court by the State of Wyoming against the State of Colorado and two Colorado corpora- tions, for the purpose of preventing a diversion of part of the water of the Laramie River, a stream flowing from Colorado into Wyo- ming. * * * The bill was filed on May 29, 1911. A motion to dismiss, equivalent to a demurrer, was argued and, on October 21, 1912, was overruled without prejudice. The case was argued, and twice reargued, on final hearing, the United States participating in the last two argu- ments, by leave of the court. Mr. Justice Van Devanter delivered the opinion of the court. This is an original suit in this court by the State of Wyoming against the State of Colorado and two Colorado corporations to pre- vent a proposed diversion in Colorado of part of the waters of the Laramie River, an interstate stream. The bill was brought in 1911, the evidence was taken in 1913 and 1914, and the parties put it in condensed and narrative form in 1916 preparatory to the usual print- ing. The case has been argued at the bar three times. The court directed one reargument because of the novelty and importance of some of the questions involved, and the other because of an intervening succession in the office of Chief Justice. As the United States ap- peared to have a possible interest in some of the questions, the court also directed that the suit be called to the attention of the Attorney General; and, by the court's leave, a representative of the United States participated in the subsequent hearings. The Laramie is an innavigable river which has its source in the mountains of northern Colorado, flows northerly 27 miles in that State, crosses into Wyoming, and there flows northerly and northeasterly 150 miles to the North Platte River, of which it is a tributary. Both Colorado and Wyoming are in the arid region where flowing waters are, and long have been, commonly diverted from their natural chan- nels and used in irrigating the soil and making it productive. For many years some of the waters of the Laramie River have been sub- jected to such diversion and use, part in Colorado and part in Wyoming. When this suit was brought the two corporate defendants, acting under the authority and permission of Colorado, were proceeding to divert in that State a considerable portion of the waters of the river and to conduct the same into another watershed, lying wholly in Colorado, for use in irrigating lands more than fifty miles distant 665 94-497-69------43 |