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<br />uJ1G~J) <br /> <br />972 <br /> <br />ECOLOGY lAW QUARTERLY <br /> <br />[Vol. 28:903 <br /> <br />transfer based solution offers a less controversial method to <br />acquire water. Both countries contribute to the restoration of the <br />Delta, but individual water users are not forced to participate; <br />indeed they are fairly compensated for the loss of vested water <br />rights. Assuming that willing sellers can be identified, and the <br />constellation of existing water rights otherwise protected, serious <br />political controversy over a Delta program might thus be <br />reduced. <br />Nonetheless, we think that such transfers will still be <br />controversial. We expect that they will not be achieved entirely <br />through voluntary means nor entirely with private funds. We, <br />and others, 408 assume that some Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and <br />Drainage District (WMIDD) farmers would voluntarily sell their <br />water rights, but obtaining that voluntary acquiescence from <br />individual farmers does not mean that WMIDD would assent to <br />transfers to the Delta. Thus far, "WMIDD has publicly stated that <br />it is not willing to sell or lease water. . ....409 Moreover, Arizona <br />law effectively givesWMIDD a veto over the decision of any <br />farmer to sell his or her water rights by requiring the written <br />consent of an irrigation district before water rights may be <br />transferred outside the district.41o <br />The probability of continued resistance from WMIDD <br />suggests that the search for supplies should encompass any and <br />all possible sources, especially among irrigation districts and the <br />Colorado River tribes. It would be best to locate willing sellers in <br />areas where local. community resistance will not thwart the sale. <br />However, while there may be justification for allowing local <br />control to prevail over larger interests in the context of small, <br />tightly-built communities,411 the justification for local control is <br />far less persuasive in the context of sparsely-populated irrigation <br />districts-spread over thousands of square miles-that control <br />hundreds of thousands or even millions of acre feet of water. As <br />we have noted, there are significant potential environmental <br />benefits from a transfer program that should be weighed against <br />the interests of individual irrigation districts and other water <br />users. However, there is also a critical national interest at stake <br />that further justifies efforts to implement such a program - even <br />over local objection. This interest revolves around one crucial <br />issue facing the Lower Colorado - salinity. <br /> <br />408. See Pitt, supra note 23, at 7. <br />409. rd. <br />410. See ARIz. REv. STAT. ~ 45-172(A)(4) (2001). It should be noted, however, that <br />the Minute provisions outlined in Section VI infra could be used to override this veto. <br />411. See generally JOHN NICHOLS, 'IRE MILAGRO BEANFlELD WAR (1974). <br />