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<br />38 <br /> <br /> <br />o <br />w <br />CJ1 <br />O".l <br /> <br />first delivery of Colorado River water in 1952" and which <br />rose steadily prior to the construction and operation of the <br />wells.'" Thus the waters artificially extracted from beneath <br />the surface are not" diverted water that eventually Hnds <br />its way back to the source from which it was diverted," <br />but rather are groundwaters caused by deep percolation <br />built up over the span of several years." Additionally, <br />testimony at the hearings indicates that return How was <br />considered as water which had just been used in the irriga- <br />tion of lands.'" <br /> <br />Second, diplomatic correspondence leading up to the <br />treaty indicates that both governments had in mind the <br />delivery of a quantity of water to be used in the irrigation <br />of lands in Mexico. An interpretation of the treaty allow- <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />!Hi Joint Report of United Stu.tes and Me:xiclIll Expert Panels on Colorado <br />River Sa1inity Problems, El P.aso Draft 4, I\fay 5, 1962, which states: <br /> <br />When irrigation with Colorado River- wat.er began, ground water levels <br />gOllcrally woro at Or noar tho levels observed in 1946 or about thirty <br />feet below land surface. By 1958, ground water levels had risen so <br />tllfl,t in much of tho project area waterlogged conditions prevailed or <br />tlncatcned. <br /> <br />lHJ Special Studies, Delivery of Water to Mexico, U. S. Dcpnrtment of <br />tho Interiol', Bureau of Reclamation 45 (Feb. 19(3). <br /> <br />57 During hearings on tho appropriations bill for public works in 1060 <br />where funds were sought for construction of tho Welltoll-Mohn.wk drainage <br />works, 'J. D. Mansfield, attorney for the Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and <br />Drai'nage District, testified as follows: <br /> <br />By way of background, may I point out to you that one of the <br />alternatives sometimes available to projects, that of obtaining drainage <br />relief through reuso of ground water, ,is not ava-ila.blo to our area. '1'ho <br />un(lerground water is so highly saline that it cannot be used on crops <br />that have the highest salt tolerance, such ,as Bermuda grass and nlfa.1fa. <br />. , . [T]he reault of the building up of the underground by tIle use <br />of Colorado River water has been to place all of this highly saline material <br />in the soils back into solution. The water in tho underground is now, <br />and ,011 bo for a long period of time, so highly saline that its n.pplica- <br />tion to crops would damage or destroy them.' <br /> <br />Hearings Before the Subcommitteo of the Senate Committee on Appropria- <br />tions, 86th Cong., 1st SeBs. 216 (1960). <br /> <br />[iB Supra, pp. 38, 41, 42. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />I <br />[ <br />