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<br /> <br />The law of the River originated with the signing of the <br />Colorado River Compact$ in 1922. The events which culminAted <br />in the Compact make for absorbing history,9 far too extensive <br />to be fully elaborated here. But the broad outlines of the <br />saga at least require mentioning. The annual threat of <br />disastrous floods, dissatisfaction with Mexican control over <br />their bi-national diversion system, and eagerness for a <br />canal that would serve more land at high elevations led the <br />residents of California's booming Imperial valley to seek a <br />new all-American canal and effective flood control works. <br />The Reclamation Service, directed by Arthur Powell Davis <br />(John Wesley Powell's nephew), regarded the Imperial Valley's <br />agitation as an opportunity to advance its vision of a <br />comprehensive development program for the Colorado, featuring <br />an immense flood-control and storage dam on the lower river, <br />probably at Black or 'Boulder Canyon, all under the paternal <br />guidance of a growing federal agency. Davis convinced the <br />Imperial Valley leadership of the advantages of his scheme in <br />protecting their proposed new canal. Los Angeles also <br />pressed for a high dam as a source of cheap hydroelectric <br />power and as an aid in its endeavors to tap Colorado River <br />water for municipal use. <br />With the partial exception of California (which had <br />adopted a hybrid appropriation and riparian system) the <br />appropriation doctrine prevailed in all of the Colorado Basin <br />states. The upper states, particularly Colorado, were <br />-3-