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001852 "Superimposed on all these interstate controversies," the Master observed, "are the claims of the United States as against all of the states. The United States elaims power to regulate and control the uses of Colorado River water by reason of its owner- ~hip and control of Hoover Darn [lnd the mainstream works below, and pursuant to the Project Act. The United States also claims that it has reserved the use of water, entirely apart from state law, for the benefit of some 25 Indian Reservations and dozens of other federal establishments located throughout the ] 32,000 square miles of the Lower Basin." ' And so, concluded Judge Rifkind, the case was vastly dif- ferent from "the traditional equitable apportionment suit in which the Court is called upon to apportion water in a single river among two or three states," Nor could it be compared to "other interstate litigations in the original .i urisdictian that presents far decision a single, relatively narrow issue, such as the proper location of a boundary." "On the contrary," said the Mastel', "this action is a complex of interstate lawsuits, the resolution of which depends upon the interpretation and application of the Federal ConstitutiolJ, treaties, statutes. contracts and decisional Jaw, [tS well as a variety of state law, Its determination will inevitably have a pro- found effect upon a great and ntpidly developing territory, considerably larger in area and population than many nations, and political subdivisions therein as diverse and distant as Phoe- nix and Los Angeles or Las Vegas and the Imperial Valley." The Mastel' thpn reviewed the previous litigation in the interstate controversy and described the geography of the Lower Basin. After that, he discussed the history of the river, in the course of which he commented pointedly on the importance of the Colorado to the millions of people living within its watershed. "It is perfectly clear," he said, "that the viability of numer- ous communities in the Lower Basin is conditioned on and limited by the availability of Colorado River S).'stem waters, It is thus manifest that in the Lower Basin the water of the Colorado River System is 'more than an amenity'; it is more than a 'treas- ure.' It is indispensable to life; no substitute for it has yet been invented or envisaged. Even under ordinary eircumstfl,nees it is natural that grave conflicts should develop over the rationing of such a preciolls supply, But the circumstances of the past quarter centlll'Y have not been ordinary, They were such as to intensify the competition for water by every class of demand. The Suuthwest has witnessed an explosive growth of popula- tion and indup,try, accompanied by a sharJl rise in ever).' index of prosperity. It is universally recognized that this rapid develop- ment is pressing hard against the ceilings imposed by the avail- ability of water from the Colorado River System." Another erucial faetol' was eited by the Master to explain the intense eompetition for Colorado River waters: Sinee 1930 a drought has prevailed throughout the watershed. "Whether this drought eycle has eome to an end has been a subject of some debate" said Judg-e Rifkinc!. "It is notewol"thy that since