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<br />, <br />, <br /> <br />., <br /> <br />,~ --......,.,.....-. <br /> <br />! <br />.~ <br /> <br />7 <br /> <br />and technical expertise must have made the more slowly developing states, including <br /> <br />Colorado, all the more leery of California's intentions and thirst for the Colorado <br /> <br />River. In addition, the Fall-Davis report was in progress and would be completed <br /> <br />by ]922; its recommendations included not only the construction of the All-American <br />26 <br />canal, but also the development of a storage reservoir at Boulder Canyon. <br /> <br />The latter project would eventually be undertaken to create what is known today <br /> <br />as Hoover Darn, the largest darn ever attempted at that time. It would serve <br /> <br />primarily the lower Colorado basin, not only to prevent another disaster such as <br /> <br />the Imperial flood of 1905-1907 but also to provide a large and steady supply of <br /> <br />water to the rapidly growing cities of southern California and Arizona, and to <br /> <br />ensure the agribusiness interests in Imperial Valley that their increasing dev- <br />27 <br />elopment would be backed by matching increases in water supply. <br /> <br />California's growth \las staggering. Its existing and planned projects drove <br /> <br />the states above California to seek some sort of settlement that would guarantee <br /> <br />each of them their fair share of Colorado River wc'.ter. Dplph Carpenter, a DU law <br /> <br />graduate and Greeley lfater law attorney. would take a leading role in this process. <br /> <br />In ]920 he called for the seven Colorado River Basin states to meet and sign a <br />28 <br />c~ct to apportion the waters of the Colorado. <br /> <br />Carpenter's desire for a compact was not based solely on the fear of Calif- <br /> <br />ornia's monopolization of the Colorado through the establishment of prior rights. <br /> <br />His experience as an assistant in the Supreme Court cases in which Colorado was <br /> <br />involved were also instrumental in forming his ideas about the need for a compact. <br /> <br />Colorado was frequently the defendant in these cases, charged with overuse of the <br /> <br />waters of various interstate streams to the detriment of states downstream. <br /> <br />Between ]90] and ]9]3 Colorado was taken to court by three of its neighbo.s. <br /> <br />(Carpenter assisted in his <br /> <br />)29 d' . <br />Nebraska. A ISCUSSlon <br /> <br />state's defense in the cases against Wyoming and <br /> <br />of several of these cases serves not only as background <br /> <br />~ <br />