Compacts, Decrees, and Treaties Affecting CO's Water

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In the event of extraordinary drought or serious accident to the irrigation system in the United States, thereby making it difficult for the United States to deliver the guaranteed quantity of 1,500,000 acre-fee-L (1,850,234,000 cubic meters) a year, the water all.otted to 'Mexico under subparagraph (a) of this tirticle wi11 be reduced in the same proportion as con- sumptive uses in the United States are reduced. While a treaty with 14ex-i'-co apportioning caaters of the Colorado River to tf2exico had long been expected, it was never regarded as being a serious tihreat to the operation of the Colorado River Compact. In actual fact, the treaty has proven to be extremely vexatious to all states of the Colorado River Basin and probably will become the subject of protracted future litigation among the seven states of the Colorado River Basin. There is not likely to be any agreement ever between the Upper Basin and the Lower Basin concerning the "deficiency" in deliveries to Yiexico as defined in article III(c) of the Colorado River Compact. It is interesting to note that only the sCate of California opposed the ratification of the Nexican Treaty. Ratification was supported by the other six basin states. It appears at this point in history that the California foresight was much better than that of the other states. The treaty was executed at the height of World War II. Since almost the total energies and resources of the United States were being devoted to the nrosecution of the war at that time, the events of that era provided a strange setting for the execution of a treaty relating to the waters of the Colorado P.iver and the Rio Whi1e it is difficu].t to deny that the treaty was equi- table, the language of the treaty makes no mention of the true reasons for which it was executed. The actual trigger for the execution of the Nlexican Treaty of 1944 was the attaclc by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. This attack produced such hysteria in the United States that it was believed that the Japanese might attempt a land invasion of the United States through either the west coast of the United States or the west coast of Iqexico, or both. One tragic example of this hysteria was the forced evacuation of American citizens of Japanese ancestory from the west coast to atnterior areas of the United States (including Colorado). It was a fact tha.t ivlexico could have offered no serious resis- tance to a Japanese invasion of the United States which might have occurred through that country. It was therefore the questionable opinion of people in high places (the President, etc.) that an accommodation with Nexico was necessary in order to permit the emnloyment of United States military forces on Niexican soil to -8-