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-0 t..:> i-" o . . I-~ I i Honorable Antonio Carillo Flores, Ambassador Embassy of Mexico 2829 Sixteenth Street, N. W. Washington, D. C. Dear Mr. Ambassador: We are submitting hereunder the opinion which you have requested on behalf of the Mexican Government concerning the Colorado River salinity problem which has arisen as a result of the Wellton-Mohawk drainage program. The purpose of this opinion is to set forth such rights as appear to us to reside in the United Mexican States and in injured landowners in the Mexicali Valley in this situation. Also set forth are such remedies as appear to 'us to exist. No information has been made available to us con- cerning the extent of damage to lands or crops in the Mexicali Valley caused by Wellton-Mohawk ground- waters. For purposes of this opinion it is assumed that substantial damage has been caused thereby to lands or crops in the Mexicali Valley. A summary of the opinion with reference to the United Mexican States is now to be stated. 1. We think that the highly saline Wellton-Mohawk groundwaters are not chargeable to Mexico under the 1944 treaty if the groundwaters materially affect the quality of waters delivered at the boundary. The treaty of 1944 between the United States and Mexico concerning utilization of the waters of the Colo- rado and Tijuana Rivers and of the Rio Grande contains no specific reference to the matter of the quality of waters to be delivered by the United States. Article 10 allots to Mexico a guaranteed annual quantity of 1,500,000 acre-feet "of the waters of the Colorado River." Article 10, however, also provides that waters may be "from any and all sources" and Article 11 provides that such waters shall be made up of the waters of the said river "whatever their origin." While these provisions are ',.- y". -+'