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Page 4 <br /> <br /> <br />c. Success depended on commitment of all parties, consistent political <br />and financial support by the parties, cooperation from the federal <br />gove rnment, patience without coercion, stability in regional and <br />national affairs. Drought, elections, economic downturns, or other <br />crises over which commissioners had no control could have led to <br />ultimate failure. <br />d. Avoid getting bogged down in too much d etail. The compact had to <br />be simple and direct in it terms. Any attempt to go into detail leads to <br />such complication that failure would prevail. <br />e. Progress required unanimous agreement. <br /> <br />Compact Principles, generally <br />. <br /> <br />Carpenter believed in several Foundational propositions for interstate compacts, <br />many of which would be applicable to interbasin compacts: <br /> <br />a. Claims of absolute ownership by headwaters states constituted an <br />unreasonable exercise of sovereignty and were thereby a trespass on <br />lower s tates. <br />b. Essential principles: equitable apportionment, comity among the <br />states and preservation of state sovereignty. <br />c. Solution appropriate for the times. <br />d. Although self - preservation is the first law of survival, considerations <br />of comity sugge st solution via policy and treaty. Compacts represent a <br />form of sustainability in relations between parties. A permanent <br />solution would establish peace between neighbors while encouraging <br />entrepreneurial activity without the risk of litigation with the b eneficial <br />effects of certainty, reliability and predictability over time. <br />e. Preservation of the principle of local control of water. <br />f. The law of the compact governed matters between states. State law <br />governed within each state. <br />g. Carpenter's th eory of interstate compacts was based first on the over - <br />riding needs of irrigated agriculture. <br />h. Carpenter was hostile to further meddling by the federal government <br />thus driving the need for agreement at the state level. <br /> <br />Compact Principles - Example: S outh Platte <br />. <br /> <br />The South Platte River Compact, one of Carpenter's first, has some lessons for <br />interbasin compacts: <br /> <br />a. Colorado would control its own water and would not have to accept <br />servitude resulting from neighboring states claiming senior prioriti es. <br />b. Colorado was willing to offer Nebraska some water if the two states <br />would agree to stop fighting and start looking for constructive mutual <br />solutions to the conflict. <br />