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<br />the dam would be constructed by the Bureau of Reclamationj <br />however, repayment would ~ot come directly from the farmers <br />and other users in L.A., but from the sale of hydroelectric <br />power gener~ted by the dam (a novel idea). Los Angeles needed <br />three things to get the dam underway: 1) a guaranteed ~ater <br />supply or flow through the up]er states, 2) the right to take <br />water out of one drainage way into another and 3) Congressional <br />approval and appropriation for the dam.(1 ,4) <br /> <br />The Colorado River Comoact <br /> <br />Since Utah had been an early leader in irrigation far~ing <br />in the West and the establishment of the doctrine of prior <br />appropriation, the state became uneasy gbout Califor~la's <br />designs on the Colorado's waters. According to th~ doctrine <br />of prior appropriation, California could claim all of the <br />unused flow of the Colorado before any of the other basin <br />states were ready to use the water. California, on the other <br /> <br />hand, was concerned about the doctrine of state sovereignty, <br /> <br />whereby Upper Basin states like Utah and Color~do could divert <br />whatever flow rose within their borders at some later date, <br />thus, making any construction on the lower river useless.(l ,4) <br />So at last all seven of the Basin states gathered in <br />Ogden, Utah to air their differences. After the first meeting, <br />the feder~l government stepped in to formaize the talks and <br />appointed Herbert Hoover to head them up. Nothing much but <br /> <br />arguments, accusations, and comulaints came of the meetings <br /> <br />until Hoover proposed a plan of his owr:. The proposal stated <br /> <br />-6- <br />