WSP11698

• File Number: 8210.470
• Description: Pacific Southwest Interagency Committee
• State: CO
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Water Division: 5
• Date: 8/6/1964
• Author: Unknown
• Title: Lower Colorado River Basin Project - Report with Individual and Minority Views - To Accompany S 1658 - Calendar Number 1267
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

001786

2 THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER BASIN PROJECT

result of an evolutionary process. It is essentially the plan set forth
in the December 1947 report of the Bureau of Reclamation. (House
Document 136, 81st Oongress, 1st session.) This plan was subsequently
updated as of June 1963, and submitted to this committee. Hearings
on previous authorization bills were held in both the Sellttte and the
House during the 79th (on H.R. 934 and H.R. 935), 80th (on S.J.
Res. 145 and H.J. Res. 227), 81st (on S. 75 and S.J. Res. 4), and 82d
(on H.R. 1500 and H.R. 1501) Oongresses. Two of these bills passed
the Senate, but none passed the House.
The obstacle to passage of the authorizing legislation was the dispute
between Oalifornia and Arizona over their respective rights to the
waters of t)J.e Oolorado River. In connection with this dispute, the
Honorable Earl Warren, then Governor of the State of Oalifornia, in
a letter dated December 29, 1948, to the Secretary of the Interior, in
respect to the Oentral Arizona project, stated:

It is only bec!l'use a determination of the respective ri~hts
of the lower baSIn States to the waters of the Oolorado RIver .
system has not been made that Oalifornia submits any criti-
CIsm of your proposed report.

On April 18, 1951, the Oommittee on Interior and Insular Affairs
of the House of Representatives adopted a resolution that considera-
tion of bills relating to the Oentral Arizona project:

be postponed until such time as use of the waters in the Lower
Oolorado River Basin is either adjudicated or binding or
mutual agreement as to the use of the waters is reached by
the States of the Lower Oolorado River Basin.

Shortly after this re~olution was adopted, an action was instituted
by the State of Arizona against the State of Oalifornia to obtain such
an adjudication. On June 3/ 1963, the Supreme Oourt in Arizonav.
Oalifornia (373 U.S. 546), vmdicated most of Arizona's contentions
as to her rights and rejected most of Oalifornia's. S. 1658 was intro-
duced the day after the opinion was announced.

HISTORY OF LITIGATION

Arizona v. Oalifornia was filed in 1952, as an original action in the
Supreme Oourt of the United States, by Arizona against Oalifornia
and seven of the latter's public agencies. The United States and
Nevada later intervened, and New Mexico and Utah were joined as
additional parties on the motion of Oalifornia. The prinCIpal con-
troversy concerned the relative rights of Oalifornia and ArIzona to
t)1e.legal use of 'Yater from the OolorB:,do R~ver. After. lengthy p:r:e-
hmmary proceedmgsthe matter came to tnal before SImon H. RIf-
kind, Esq., as a Special Master appointed by the Supreme Oourt. The
trial before Mr. Rifkind began on June 14, 1956, and ended August
28,1958; some 340 witnesses were heard orally or upon deposition and
approximately 25,000 pages of transcript were filled. The Master
reported his findings and his recommended decree to the Supreme
Oourt on January 16, 1961. The Oourt heard argument on January
8-11, 1962, and reguired a reargument on November 13-14, 1962.
The opinion of the Oourt was rendered June 3, 1963. The final decree
was entered on March 9, 1964 (376 U.S, 340).

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