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<br />Q <br />04 <br />OQ <br />~ <br /> <br />HISTORY OF WATER RESOORCE DE:VELOFMmT <br /> <br />State of Arizona filed suit in the Supreme Court of the United states in <br />October 1952 against the State of California and others for the determi- <br />nation of the rights to use the waters of the Lower Colorado River system. <br />The Supreme Court gave its decision on June 3, 1963, and issued a decree <br />on March 9, 1964, providing for the apportionment of the use of the waters <br />of the main stream of the Colorado River below Lee Ferry among the States <br />of Arizona, California, and Nevada. The States of Arizona and New Mexico <br />were granted the exclusive use of the waters of the Gila River system. in <br />the United States. The decree did not affect the rights or priorities to <br />the use of water in any of the other Lower Basin tributaries of the Colo- <br />rado River. <br /> <br />The decree permitted the States of the Lower Basin to proceed with <br />developments to use their apportionments of Colorado River water. Major <br />new developments include the Southern Nevada Water Project in Nevada, the <br />Dixie Project in Utah, and the Central Arizona Project in Arizona. Devel- <br />opment of the Indian lands is expected to use all of .the water allocated <br />to them by the decree. These lands include the Colorado River Indian Res- <br />ervation, Arizona-California.; the Fort Mohave Indian Reservation, Arizona- <br />California-Nevada; 8.'ld the Chemehuevi Indian Reservation, California. <br /> <br />5. Colorado River Basin Project Act (Public Law 90- 537, 90th Congress, <br />September 30, 1968) <br /> <br />The major items provided in the law include the following: <br /> <br />Construction of the Central Arizona Project consisting of a sys- <br />tem of main conduits and canals including a main canal and pumping plants <br />(Granite Reef' aqueduct and pumping plants) for diverting and caTrying <br />water from Lake Havasu to Orme Dam or suitable alternative. <br /> <br />Construction of five multiple-purpose projects in Colorado; the <br />Animas-La Plata, Dolores, Dallas Creek, West Divide, and San Miguel; and <br />one in Utah, the Uintah Unit of the Central Utah Project, upon comple- <br />tion and approval of a feasibility report to Congress. <br /> <br />Establishment of a Lower Colorado River Development Fund. <br /> <br />Development. of criteria for the coordinated long-range opera- <br />tion of the Federal reservoirs, equalizing the storage in Lake Mead and <br />Lake Po.ell. <br /> <br />Directed that the Secretary of the Interior shall conduct full <br />and complete reconnaissance investigations for the purpose of developing <br />a general plan to meet the future water needs of the Western United states, <br />except that for a period .of 10 years from the date of the act, studies <br />shall not be undertaken of any plan for the importation ::Jf water into <br />the Colorado River Basin from any other natural river drainage basin <br /> <br />15 <br /> <br />