9367 ‎(2)‎

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 9367
• Author: Colorado Water Workshop.
• Title: Proceedings
• USFW Year: 1992.
• USFW - Doc Type: Colorado Water Workshop July 22-24, 1992.
• Copyright Material: NO

government. Any use of water in the Lower Basin not through a federal
contract is an illegal use. Later development of the Law of the River
shows that the Bureau of Reclamation is really the "water master" in
allocating and delivering water to the Lower Basin states. California
and Arizona, in particular, can take some comfort in not having to
face the political difficulties of cutting off illegal users. They
are happy to say that it is the Bureau of Reclamation's problem, and
not their's.
The decree entered by the Court confirmed the allocation,
established by Congress in the Boulder Canyon Project Act, of 4.4
million acre-feet to California, 2.8 million acre-feet to Arizona, and
300 thousand acre-feet to Nevada. There is not a compact per se in
the Lower Basin. Rather, it is a congressional allocation of water
delivered through federal contracts. The decree also provided
guidance to the Secretary of Interior in dealing with shortage and
surplus conditions, when there is more or less water than 7.5 million
acre-feet available. It is also important to note that the decree in
Arizona v. California allocates only mainstream water, and it does not
deal with tributary water. The Court specifically declined to
interpret the Compact. The opinion is simply an interpretation of the
Boulder Canyon Project Act.
Things having been taken care of in the Lower Basin, the Upper
Basin states then started to work towards a comprehensive development
scheme to allow the Upper Basin states to realize their mandate of the
development of their share of the River. The Upper Basin states
looked to the federal government for development of that system.
Their plan was to have the federal government pay to construct a
series of reservoirs that would allow each state to develop its
entitlement. In response, in 1956, Congress enacted the Colorado
River Storage Project Act which authorized the construction of the
Curecanti Unit, Flaming Gorge Dam, Navajo Reservoir, and Glen Canyon
Dam. The Act also provided for various "participating proj ects, "
within each of the states, to provide irrigation water for the states
to directly use in developing their share of the River. The idea
behind the units of the Colorado River Storage Project was that they
would withhold and provide what was called hold-over storage, or
carry-over storage, thus assuring that the Upper Basin has the ability
to meet its obligation of delivering to the Lower Basin an average of
75 million acre-feet over each ten year period. The idea in the Act,
therefore, was to allow the Upper Basin states to fully develop their
entitlements without being subjected to a compact called by the Lower
Basin states.
In 1968, as part of the tradeoffs for congressional authorization
of the construction of the Central Arizona Project, Congress and the
states further affirmed the need for cOdrdinated interstate operation
of various facilities, through the adoption of the Colorado River.
Basin Project Act. The Act assumed, as a national obligation, the
provision of water to Mexico under the 1944 Mexican Water Treaty. The
Act also authorized the construction of the Central Arizona Project,
but at a heavy price to Arizona. The Act required the Secretary of
Interior, in administering any shortages among the Lower Division
states, to limit diversions from the Colorado River for the Central
Arizona Project so as to assure the availability of a total of 4.4
million acre-feet for use in California. It was a bitter pill for

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