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<br />29 <br /> <br />The next Wyoming v. Colorado litigation did not tak~ place until 1957. <br /> <br />To understand Commissioner Bishop's distrust of Colorado intentions on the <br /> <br />Colorado River in tl1~ proceedings of Heeting Five of til~ UCRBCC requires some <br /> <br />knOl,ledge of thes~ four SuprCl11e Court cases over the use of the Laramie. Or,e <br /> <br />of the most influential of the decisions made in the 1922 ruling regarded the <br /> <br />applicability of the rule of prior appropriation to interstate vater rights <br /> <br />if neighboring states both adhered to the rule witllin their aIm borders. It <br /> <br />was influential not only in 1922 with regards to Upper Basin states' desires <br /> <br />for more exact allocations of the Colorado in light of Lower Basin development; <br /> <br />it also fueled Wyoming's desire for a quicle settlement in 1947 from fear of <br /> <br />Colorado establishing an overwhelming lead in the race for Opper Basin development <br /> <br />and water priorities. <br /> <br />The Colorado-Big Thompson (C-BT) was one major Colorado project that Wyoming <br /> <br /> <br />feared would hurt its own interests. Yet it was authorized by Congress in 1937100 <br /> <br />in part because the Wyoming v. Colorado cases m2de it obvious that the Laramie <br />d ' d ' " f h C d 101 <br />coul not be relle upon as a slgnlflcant source of water or nort ern olora o. <br /> <br />Coloradans in turn looked to transmountain diversions form the Colorado River as <br /> <br />th~ir hope for a steady supply of water for Eastern slope farms and cities. TI.e <br /> <br />Dust Bowl of the Depression years did include parts of Colorado, and the Eastern <br /> <br />slope farmers' situation seemed hopeless "ithout the promise of some kind of ne<i <br />vater sUPPly.l()2 The Colorado River was seen by many as the "last I,ater hole of <br /> <br />the West 103 that might relieve the drought conditions. <br /> <br />There was opposition to the C-BT within Colorado, hOI,ever, primarily from <br /> <br />the I-Iest slope citizens who saw the C-BT as a threat to their aIm water supply. <br /> <br />Yet as the Bureau of Reclamation became Colorado's partner in supporting the C-BT, <br /> <br />it "as able to assure the West slope that the project was feasible and that the <br /> <br />r- '. <br /> <br />- -~. <br /> <br />~ ~ -- <br />