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<br />\ <br /> <br />" <br /> <br />4 UDENWLR 290 <br />4 U. Denv. Water L. Rev. 290 <br />(Cite as: 4 U. Denv. Water L. Rev. 290) <br /> <br />Page 5 <br /> <br />Thus, the Compact renders a race for development between Upper and Lower Basins unnecessary. The Compact assures <br />the Upper Basin that the Lower Basin's entitlement is only a finite share of the Colorado River, thus allowing the Upper <br />Basin to make long-term capital investments with a degree of security in its water supply. [FN241 The Upper Basin is free to <br />develop water as economic need dictates, regardless of how long that might take. The Upper Basin is not required to answer <br />questions about the pace of its development, or, more importantly, to undertake premature or environmentally destructive <br />water project development simply to hoard water for future need against the Lower Basin. [FN251 <br /> <br />B. 1il&~p.er BasinSought to Eliminate the Application of the Prior Appropriation Doctrine on an Interstate Basis <br /> <br />In addition to the enormous financial demand of large-scale development, the need for coordination in the development of <br />the Colorado River also became apparent because of the slightly different legal doctrines in each of the western states. <br />Interstate disputes highlighted these differences, and the assertion of federal authority over interstate waters exacerbated <br />them. Early in the twentieth century, Colorado litigated three lawsuits in the United States Supreme Court involving <br />interstate waters--K"d'lIs~"-~~~8'O I and II, [FN261 and~8~;icColOFado. [FN271 The Kansas v. Colorado cases <br />involved *298 disputes between two states with different water law systems. Colorado was a pure prior appropriation state, <br />while Kansas water law, like California law, employed a combination of riparian and prior appropriation doctrines. Colorado <br />asserted it had a sovereign right to fully deplete the Arkansas River. rFN281 The $,up.t:emeCourt heldthat.l<:ansas,. as a <br />downstream state, didnot.have the right to all of the water in the Arkansas River undepleted by Colorado. [FN291 However, <br />the Court also' held that Colorado, as the state of origin, did hot have the right to retain all the water' within its borders. <br />[FN301 ~&r~fore"theCourtimposedanequitable apportionment of water, without regard to the relative dates of use withi!l <br />'tn6two states. <br /> <br />In contrast, the decision in Wu_ift~~Mt)l;lfdoinvolved two pure prior appropriation states. cInthis ,case; the, Court <br />deClined to apply the Doctrine of Equitable Apportionment, and instead appti~dia rule of interstate priority-- between two <br />prior appropriation states, the doctrine of prior appropriation applies. [FN311 Thus, the result in the Wyoming case became <br />Qne of the principal motivating factors in Colorado's desire to pursue th0'Aflegotiation of the Compact. The Upper Basin <br />feared the Lower Basin could use the Wyoming decision to obtain permanent preferential rights to water simply by <br />developing faster. (FN321 In the Compact negotiations, Colorado sought to make sure the states would never use the rule in <br />the Wyoming case to deprive the Upper Basin of its right of development. [FN331 <br /> <br />The Upper Basin achieved its goal. Several provisions of the GOmpact limit the Lower Basin's claim on Upper Basin water. <br />The fIrst, of course, is the pJ;~I:Petual allocation of consumptive use made in Article lII(a}. Regarding water flowing from the <br />Upper to the Lower Basin, Article III( e) provides that one cannot make a claim except to the extent actually needed for <br />domestic and agricultural purposes. Article IV(b) makes power generation subservient to consumption for domestic and <br />agricultural purposes. Finally, Article VIII provides that the..Q(')mpactdoesnGtimpair present perfected rights, and all othvr <br />rights are to be satisfied solely from water apportioned to the basin in which they are situated. <br /> <br />After the Compact negotiations, Carpenter discussed his view of the effect of the Wyoming case, and how the Compact had <br />resolved the *299 issue. <br />Further development on the lower river will in no manner affect this apportionment or impair the right of the upper States <br />to consume their apportionment whenever their necessities require. Any immense reservoir hereafter constructed on the <br />lower river cannot be the basis of a preferred claim which will interfere with the future development of the Upper Basin. The <br />development in the Lower Basin will be confined to the apportionment made to that basin, with the permissible increase. <br />Any excess of development cannot infringe upon the reservation perpetually set apart to the upper territory. There can be no <br />rivalry or contest of speed in the development of the two basins. Priority of development in the Lower Basin will give no <br />preference of right as against the apportionment to the Upper Basin. [FN341 <br /> <br />C. ~perBasin'Sought to Preserve State Autonomy and Sovereignty Over Intrastate Water Appropriation and <br />Administration <br /> <br />For years, the West had seen far reaching claims of authority asserted by the federal government over the use, allocation, <br />and development of western waters. @)Ji.~e'Tfillj'6t'p'Utposes in negotiating the Compact for the Upper Basin was to erect. <br />a ,shield against federal claims of authority, thus preserving state regulatory authority over allocation and administration of <br />waters within state borders. <br /> <br />@ 2006 Thomson/West. No Claim to Orig. U.S. Govt. Works. <br />