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<br />were very similar. The first three purposes are ideDtical: (1) Promote <br />interstate comity, (2) Provide an equitable distribution of the water, and (3) <br />Promote pollution abatement. Each compact then went into other areas and was <br />CJ made more specific. Negotiations for the Red River Compact took in excess of <br />~ 20 years before the compact was signed. However, a Federal representative has <br />~ never been appointed to the Compact. Arkansas has always furnished a chairmaD. <br />~The Arkansas Compact does have a Federal chairman and it works much more <br />~ smoothly. The Red River Compact has one objective--joint negotiation of regu- <br />lation of flows in the Red River Basin. It further recognizes a process for <br />joint State planning and identifying each State's share in the interstate water <br />of the Basin. The Arkansas Compact provides an iDterstate agency for apportion- <br />ment of the water of the Basin. <br /> <br />Arkansas River Basin Compact Dispute <br /> <br />Ms. R. B. Friedlander, Special Counsel to the Attorney General, discussed the <br />Oklahoma versus Arkansas dispute under the Arkansas River Basin Compact. Both <br />States presented findings, and the Commission issued an extensive order. The <br />effect of its ruling is currently unkDown and it will probably be litigated in <br />Federal court. The Compact's purpose is to promote comity between the two <br />States. An interstate compact is an agreement between two or more States <br />entered into for the purpose of dealing with a problem that transcends State <br />lines. Ms. Friedlander said that an interstate compact is the most binding <br />legal arrangemeDt possible between two States and outlined the effect and <br />significance of compacts. Criticisms of compacts involve the time required to <br />reach an agreement, the inflexibility of the agreement, the diminution of <br />sovereignty, and the enforcement of compacts. <br /> <br />11 <br />