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<br /> <br />; <br /> <br />4 UDENWLR290 <br />4 U. Denv. Water L. Rev. 290 <br />(Cite as: 4 U. Denv. Water L. Rev. 290) <br /> <br />Page 7 <br /> <br />made explicit in Article VIII that it did not affect vested water rights.!~t;tiGle lII(a) and (b) specifically apportioned to the <br />s,ates the right to consumptively use unappropriated water, thus affirmingstate ownership ofthat water. That ownership was <br />subject to the reserved authority of the United States to enter into a treaty with Mexico, and the Compact specified in Article <br />I1I( c) the waters that the United States could use to satisfy any such obligation. "WliileArticle VII spe.cificallydeft the <br />qq,estjon of quantification of Indian reserved water rights for future resolution, the Compact appears to charge the use of <br />reserveafights against the basin in which the use is made. Article IV acknowledged that the Colorado River was not <br />navigable-in-fact and *302 made uses for navigation subservient to domestic, agriculture, and power purposes (but reserved <br />the authority of Congress to disapprove of this paragraph). <br /> <br />The Upper Basin asserted the Compact preserved the autonomy of the states to regulate and allocate water under their own <br />state systems. After finalization of the Compact, Carpenter addressed the Compact's intent to preserve intrastate regulation of <br />water through the prior appropriation doctrine. <br />Intrastate control of appropriations made within the apportionments provided by the compact is specifically reserved by <br />~.:llaragFa~h.~~Ft1cle IV. This includes such regulations as each state may provide by its constitution and laws respecting the <br />preference of one class of use over other classes of use. In other words Mie~tim:tt()narrdlaWs"of'e()'ldradb control the <br />details .ofappropriati0n,"11se,.and distribution of water within the state. The compact does not attempt to invade such matters <br />of local concern. When approved, the compact will be the law of the river as between the states. It deals wholly with <br />interstate relations. This paragraph refers to intrastate control. Whatever the intrastate regulation and control may be it <br />cannot effect the interstate relations. No law of any state can have extraterritorial effect or interfere with the operation of the <br />compact as between the states. (FN421 <br /> <br />After the Compact negotiations, in his testimony on the Swing-Johnson Bill (later enacted as the Boulder Canyon Project <br />Act of 1928), Carpenter asserted that part of the movement to negotiate the Compact had evolved from the desire to preserve <br />state autonomy. Before the Compact, the Upper Basin States saw the Boulder Canyon dam proposal as a "monopolistic <br />structure [[] proposed for lower river protection." [FN431 Carpenter summarized the Upper Basin States' opposition to <br />authorization of the lower basin reservoir without simultaneous ratification of the Compact. <br />The upper states have done everything within their power to speedily solve the underlying legal problems involved in the <br />construction of flood control works for the lower river territory. They insist that they be afforded the protection of the <br />Colorado River Compact, preferably by all seven states, before any further claims attach to the river. <br /> <br />*303 They are not willing to permit their territory to be burdened and their people to be harassed [sic] with any such <br />conditions as have prevailed upon the Rio Grande, North Platte and other rivers. In necessary self defense they must resist <br />the construction of any reservoir upon the lower river until their rights have been settled by compact. [FN441 <br /> <br />~m6fiZing the construction of Hoover Dam and consenting to the Compact, Congress atlirmed the concept of state <br />aatonomyin intrastate allocation and administration. When Congress passed the B'etdderGanyon Project Act [FN451 in <br />1928, it contained no general federal reservation of rights. The Act subjeeted the rights of the United States In or to waters of <br />the Colorado River to the provisions of the Compact. [FN461 It gave the states an official advisory role, with full access to <br />records, in the activities of the Secretary of the Interior under the Act. [FN471 Finally, the Act specifically disclaimed any <br />interference with the rights of the states to adopt laws and policies concerning the appropriation, control, and use of waters <br />within their borders, subject only to the Colorado River Compact or other compacts. [FN481 <br /> <br />D. 'iJ!.ke~13pper.Basin Sought to Avoid the Threat of Interstate Litigation Among the States and Between the States and the <br />Federal Government <br /> <br />At the opening meeting of the Commission, Hoover stressed that avoiding litigation was one of the primary purposes of the <br />Compact. <br />It is hoped that such an agreement may be arrived at by this Commission as will prevent endless litigation which will <br />inevitably arise in the conflict of state rights, with the delays and costs that will be imposed upon our citizens through such <br />conflicts. The success of its efforts will contribute to the welfare of millions of people. [FN491 Carpenter responded to <br />Hoover: <br />As you well observed in your opening address the prime object of the creation of this Commission was to avoid future <br />litigation among the states interested in the Colorado River and the utilization of the benefits to be obtained from its water <br />supply. [FN501 <br /> <br />@ 2006 Thomson/West. No Claim to Orig. U.S. Govt. Works. <br />