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WYOMING After introductions, Alan Bible, attorney general for Nevada, assumed the chair for the meeting. The Wyoming delegation, "due to being at the head of the river," was asked to go first in presenting its views and positions concerning the meeting and the subject of the meeting - the proposed treaty with Mexico. Jenkins began: "Of course, we are at the head of the river when it comes to the flow of water. On behalf of Wyoming, I would like to say that I come from the Green River Valley. I use the water of the Colorado River. I would like to say that I believe that we should come to understand that the Colorado River question is but one question. There should be no upper or lower division when it comes to the handling and the use of the water at the present time. .;h,. "The people from California must know that they should be as deeply interested in the development of the use of the water in Wyoming as we are interested in the development of the use of water in California. Their problem is our problem." He continued, "Today, we of Wyoming would like to have established an organization of the real water users in the Colorado River Basin so that instead of two men who live at Cheyenne, Wyoming, going into a conference and deciding what they believe people who live in the Green River Valley should do with that water, there could be a unified body of actual water users. We would like our sister states to do likewise and organize a water users association, and then we all get together. That is all I have to say for Green River Valley, but we are very much in this fight against the treaty." Jenkins further explained his purpose for attending the meeting, "... we passed resolutions opposing the treaty, our State Farm Bureau passed resolutions opposing the treaty, our Wyoming Stock Growers Association passed resolutions opposing the treaty, yet our state engineer informed our members of Congress that the state has agreed upon the treaty. Our representatives in Congress found out that he was mistaken, and they are with us in opposing the treaty." At the conclusion of the meeting, Jenkins and Bower returned to Wyoming with the knowledge that they were instrumental in creating the Colorado River Water Users Association, an organization whose purpose was to identify common goals and to address issues of concern such as federal and state policies affecting the flow and/or use of Colorado River water. A scant three months after returning to Wyoming from the Las Vegas meeting, the U.S. Senate ratified the treaty with Mexico. However, the treaty included several amendments, thanks to CRWUA input, that reduced to some extent the overall impact to Wyoming and her water users. Prophetically, the newly organized CRWUA initiated a rejuvenated spirit of cooperation and partnership between Wyoming state officials and Green River Basin water users. The state engineer's office became a supporter and active member of the infant association. This support continues to this day. Creation of CRWUA could not have been timed more advantageously for Wyoming. The year following ratification of the Mexican treaty, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation issued a study that concluded there was not enough water in the Colorado River system to satisfy all the water projects proposed for the Colorado. Subsequently, Congress refused to approve any projects until upper basin states determined and negotiated a compact to apportion each state's share of the river. An agreement was reached in 1948 with Wyoming receiving the apportionment of 14 percent of the upper basin flows. The Upper Colorado River Commission also was established at this time with L. C. Bishop serving as Wyoming's representative. These actions resulted in Congress enacting the Colorado River Storage Project Act, which opened the door for several long-anticipated projects to be constructed in Wyoming. The largest federal facility on the Colorado River drainage in Wyoming is Fontenelle Dam. Constructed by the Bureau of Reclamation, it is the principal feature of the Seedskadee Project on the Green River, providing municipal and industrial water, power production, flood control and waters for a downstream fishery and wildlife refuge. 0 The Seedskadee Project is one of the initial participants in the Colorado River Storage Project, which was authorized by Congress in 1956 to provide for comprehensive development of the Upper Colorado River Basin. The Bureau of Reclamation project furnishes the long-time regulatory storage needed to permit the upper basin states, including Wyoming, to meet their flow obligation to the lower basin states and still utilize their apportioned share of the Colorado River system. Fontenelle Dam stores 345,000 acre-feet of water. Wyoming has rights to 125,000 acre-feet of this water. When full, the reservoir is 20 miles long, and its power plant has a generating capacity of 11,500 kilowatts. An integral part of the Seedskadee Project is the Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge, which was created to mitigate river habitat lost to the construction of Fontenelle Dam and to enhance wildlife resources. Presently, deer, moose, pronghorn antelope, ducks, geese, blue herons, trumpeter swans and countless raptors, song birds, predators and small animals reside at the refuge. Reclamation's other undertakings in the Colorado River Basin include the Eden and Lyman projects. Additionally, Flaming Gorge Dam, constructed in Utah, creates a 62-mile-long lake in Wyoming, which provides recreational activities of national importance and is famous for its trophy Lake Trout fishery. Fontenelle Reservoir represented a safe, reliable and secure source of water for Wyoming's lower Green River Basin. As a consequence, 32 THE GREEN RIVER SERVED AS MAJOR ROUTE FOR TIMBER INDUSTRY THAT FLOATED RAILROAD TIES EACH SPRING 100 MILES TO THE TOWN OF GREEN RIVER. EARLY 19305 GATHERING AT GREEN RIVER LAKE, HEADWATERS OF THE GREEN RIVER, NORTH OF PINEDALE, WYOMING.