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<br />CONTRARY VIEWS OF THE LAW OF THE COLORADO RIVER: <br />AN EXAMINATION OF RIVALRIES BETWEEN THE UPPER <br />AND LOWER BASINS <br />By John U. Carlson and <br />Alan E. Boles, Jr. <br />I. INTRODUCTION <br />The Colorado River arises in the mountains of Wyoming <br />and Colorado and flows 1400 miles to the sea. Its basin <br />covers one-twelfth of the contiguous continental United <br />States.l It crosses or borders seven states and passes <br />through another country, Mexico. Because "[i]t is the only <br />great river ... entirely within an arid region," Congressman <br />Taylor of Colorado pronounced it in 1928 to be "intrinsically <br />the most valuable stream it the world.112 Its water is <br />exported beyond its drainage area to a greater degree than <br />that of any other American river.3 Over half of the people <br />of the West depend upon it as a source of water,4 although, <br />unlike any other major river, no large city is situated close <br />to it.5 <br />Harnessed and re-directed by a network of dams and <br />diversion projects, vigorously administered by state author- <br />ities, and stewarded by the Bureau of Reclamation, the <br />Colorado is "one of the most institutionally encompassed <br />rivers in the country.116 A set of compacts, treaties, <br />statutes and judicial decisions, collectively known as the <br />-1-