9407 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Wednesda~ :!Afay 28J 1997 RECEPTION AT PALACE OF THE GOVERNORS SYMPOSIUM PROCEEDINGS MAY 1997 o Built by Spanish settlers in 1609-1610, Palace of the Governors is the oldest public building in the United States and has served as a public seat of government for four sovereign nations: Spain, Mexico, the Confederacy and the U.S. Following the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, the American Indians enlarged the structure and used it as a pueblo. The palace was again occupied and enlarged by the Spanish following the reconquest of 1694. The palace became a museum in 1909 and reflects the multicultural history of New Mexico. Exhibits include photographic archives, manuscripts from the 17th century to the present, and an extensive historic library. The Colorado River Compact, which created the interstate agreement dividing the waters of the Colorado between the Upper and Lower Basins, was signed at the Palace of the Governors on Nov. 24, 1922. At the opening reception, Walter Bradley, lieuten- ant governor of New Mexico, and Henry Vaux Jr., president of the Water Education Foundation, offered some opening remarks. The official welcome was made by Thomas Turney, state engineer of New Mexico prior to a retrospective by organizers of an earlier Colorado River Compact symposium. In 1983, Gary Weatherford and F. Lee Brown organized a conference marking the 60th anniversary Gary Weatherford and E Lee Brown, conveners of a 1983 conference marking the 60th anniversary of the Colorado River Compact. of the Colorado River Compact for the John Muir Institute. From the session, The Working Conference on the Colorado River, came a book, New Courses for the Colorado River, which offered a glimpse of what the future might hold for the Colorado River Basin and the use of the river's waters. At the reception, they discussed the potential contribution of the 1997 Symposium. They noted today's heightened conflict and sense of shortage could provide a catalyst for decision-makers. They observed that the unused apportionment is now being used at an accelerated rate. Brown and Weatherford noted that The Bishop's Lodge was an unexcelled place to have a constructive conversation and that the hallowed - or damned - historical ground could draw out participants' best instincts. "Each one of us here tonight is crossing paths and space filled by the signers of the 1922 Compact," Weatherford said. "Let's hope it draws out the best in all of us." Finally, they gave best wishes to the new conven- ers, including more key players attending, at the symposIUm. "Rita, I hope these three days leave you less exhausted than we were 15 years ago. Gary slept through his alarm and missed his plane," Brown said.