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<br />While the lowest beneficial use priority. . . is sufficient to incorporate an
<br />ecological valuation of water within the terms of the treaty, it is also clear that
<br />such a valuation was simply not contemplated by the treaty's framers. At no
<br />point in the discussion or debate on the treaty were such concerns raised. In
<br />fact, a thorough review of all declassified State Department documents related
<br />to boundary and water matters through 1970, including diplomatic exchange
<br />on the Salinity Crisis, fails to reveal any concern whatsoever with the
<br />ecological services afforded by the rivers independent of concern for
<br />agricultural, municipal, and industrial development.
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<br />Our reading of the prioritized uses in Article 3, however, lead us to conclude that they pertain to
<br />the limited instance of "joint use of international waters. Article 2 makes clear that IBWC
<br />jurisdiction is limited to the limitrophe sections ofthe Rio Grande and Colorado, with the works
<br />of either country outside the limitrophe section coming within the sole jurisdiction of each
<br />country. If the reference to the limitrophe section in Article 2 is read to mean "international
<br />waters" as that term is used in Article 3, then Article 3 does not have the broad application
<br />Mumme suggests. Our reading is consistent with the provisions of Section II, Article 5
<br />providing for joint construction in the main channel of the Rio Grande, creating "international
<br />storage dams" and "international reservoirs" (see also Article 8). No reference to "international
<br />waters" appears in the articles in Section III pertaining to the Colorado River. Also, it is
<br />noteworthy that the term "international waters" is not synonymous with "international river."
<br />"International water" is water subject to the domestic jurisdiction of more than one country at a
<br />time, or water entirely outside the domestic jurisdiction of anyone (i.e., the high seas).
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<br />68 CILA Courses of Action, Paragraph 8. This argument is inconsistent with the technical
<br />assessment of water necessary for environmental purposes in the Colorado River Delta as stated
<br />by Zamora-Arroyo, F., Nagler P., Briggs~ M. Radtke, D., Rodriquez, H., Garcia, J., Valdes, C.,
<br />Huete, A. & Glenn, E. (2000), Regeneration of Native Trees in Response to Flood Releases from
<br />the United States into the Delta of the Colorado River, Mexico, Report to the United States Fish
<br />and Wildlife Service, November 2000 (49 Journal of Arid Environments 49, September 2001).
<br />That assessment is 260,000 acre feet more water over a four year period, and does not include
<br />water necessary to sustain the Cienega de Santa Clara.
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<br />69 CILA Courses of Action, Paragraph 3.
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<br />70 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, Art. 62, See note 20, supra.
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<br />71 See Hundley, note 54, supra at 41-136.
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<br />72 Press release, November 23, 1999, Center for Biological Diversity; "A coalition of more than
<br />thirty-five national, international, and local conservation groups representing more than eight
<br />million people from Mexico and the United States today sent a letter to their governments calling
<br />for [a treaty amendment that] would allocate water for conservation ofthe Colorado River Delta
<br />and northern Gulf of California."
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