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m {'.:;) ~"" ~ ,-> w ) 33 feet of water per second, Colorado would be deficient in its delivery to New Mexico pursuant to the Rio Grande Compact by 450 acre feet, thereby raising the spectrum that the state of New Mexico and the state of Texas would reopen the litigation in the United States Supreme Court, all to the detriment of Colorado. .Mogote Ditch answered that contention by pointing out the State Engineer's proposed rules and regulations were not approved by the water court in Case No; W-3466 and therefore the State Engineer did not have authority to reduce the diversion of water from its historic level, es- pecially when junior rights on the Rio Grande River Were not curtailed. The Mogote Ditch is on the Conejos River and is senior to some rights on tlie Rio Grande that Were not yet regulated by the state. The water court granted the state's request for a temporary restrain- ing. order because the Mogote Ditch diversion disrupted the pre-existing status. quo on the river. The temporary restraining order was later extended by stipulation among the parties, because it would have been impossible to hold a hearing on the motion for a temporary injunction within the period before the judge went on vacation. For a time it appeared that many of the same parties involved in the rules and regulations case would intervene in this case, but Shortly after this caSe began, the river was declared "open" by the State Engi neer, thereby e 1 imi na t i ng the immedi ate necessi ty for the suit.37 Nothing of substance has since been done in the case. Resolution of the Mogote case could answer some of the legal issues that are confronting the Valley water users. The fOllowing are a list of such issues: 37Information obtained at a meeting with the Assistant Attorney General for Land and Water, October 7, 1976, in the Attorney General's Office, Denver, Colorado.