WSP11122

• File Number: 8271.300
• Description: Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Program - General Information and Publications-Reports
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Water Division: 5
• Date: 1/1/3000
• Title: OPINION - Colorado River Salinity Problem - Submitted to His Excellency - Honorable Antonio Carillo Flores - Ambassador of Mexico
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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37

4. Conclusion

Though not set forth in the treaty, it appears to us that
the two countries did not contemplate that highly saline
groundwater artificially introduced into the river in such
quantities as to materially affect the salinity content of de-
livered waters would be deliverable to Mexico as treaty
water. Article 10, however, allots to Mexico water of the
Colorado River" from any and all sources" and Article 11
refers to waters "whatever their origin". Taken alone
these phrases are sufficiently broad to allow credit to the
United States for the delivery of waters such as the Well-
ton-Mohawk drainage. For the following reasons, we think
these phrases should not be given such an application.

First, hearings before the Foreign Relations Committee
of the United States Senate indicate that the United States
insisted credit be given for the large amount of return flow
which would pass to Mexico in any event. Testimony indi-
eates this was the reason for the phrases" from any and
all sources" and waters "whatever their origin" found in
Articles 10 and 11 of the treaty, that the language was
agreed to with one purpose in mind, and that the Mexican
negotiators were aware of that purpose. (We think it
highly unlikely that the Mexican negotiators would have
agreed to a pl~ovision allowing credit for the delivery of
highly saline groundwater artificially introduced into the
river in such quantities as to materially affect the quality
of water delivered.) Moreover," return flow" is defined
in Article l(h) of the treaty to mean "that portion of di-
verted water that eventually finds its way back to the source
from which it was diverted. " We think groundwater
pumped from the IVellton-Mohawk project is not covered
by this definition. The drainage wells which pump highly
saline groundwaters in the Wellton-Mohawk project tap.
the underground water table which began to rise with the