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<br />G(j15~j6 <br /> <br />912 <br /> <br />ECOLOGY LAW QUARTERLY <br /> <br />[Vol. 28:903 <br /> <br />i <br />~ <br />i <br />! <br /> <br />Compared to the high costs of these environmental mitigation <br />projects, a Colorado Delta program is' cost-effective. <br />This paper issues a challenge to the Bush Administration to <br />act on this opportunity. By taking on this challenge, the <br />Administration can improve U.S. relations with Mexico and move <br />towards reconciliation with its environmental critics, while <br />preserving and restoring a remarkable region. <br /> <br />I <br />THE LAW OF THE RNER <br /> <br />The waters of the Colorado River,are governed by the "Law of <br />the River," an array of statutes, court decisions and decrees, <br />contracts, interstate compacts, administrative regulations and <br />rules, state laws, Mexican domestic laws, and international <br />treaties' generated by' a century of ongoing disputes over the <br />allocation of Colorado River water.45 It encompasses at least four <br />different legal regimes: United States federal and state law, <br />Mexican domestic law, and international law. We believe that <br />some people consider the Law of the River to be a sort of sacred <br />text. However, the reality is that much of the Law of the River <br />consists of poorly, drafted, vague and ambiguous documents. <br />Indeed, the heart of the, Law of the River is a simple five-page <br />document known as the Colorado River Compact ~ a legal <br />agreement shorter thana typical apartment lease. <br />As we discuss below, the Law of the River has generated an <br />extremely rigid system of water rights that purports to divide the <br />entire flow of the Colorado - and then some - among the water <br />interests in the U.S. and Mexico. It also places significant <br />restrictions on the transfer of water away from existing uses. The <br />result is a system that is highly ~ prejudiced against "wasting" <br />water on envir(;mmen:t~ concerns' arid 'the ecosystem of, the <br />Delta. This system becomes only ,more prejudicial to these <br />concerns over time. As continued growth and development in the <br />Colorado River Basin increase' the pressure on water resources, <br />the Law of the River' allows entrenched ,water interests' to resist <br />the transfer of water to maintain environmental values. As we <br />shall argue, given this growing pressure arid the implications of <br />, ' <br /> <br />Catherine Lazaroff. Restoring the Everglades: An ENS Two Pi1It Special Report Part [ <br />(July 1, 1999). available at http://www.ens.lycos.com/ensjju199/1999L-07-01- <br />o l.html. <br />45. A collection of the major components of the Law of the River are reprinted in <br />RAy L. WILBER & NORI'HCUTT ELY. THE HOOVER DAM DOCUMENfS (1948), and in MILTON <br />N. NATHANSON. UPDATING THE HOOVER DAM DOCUMENTS (1978). <br /> <br />I <br />