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The Future Controversy has always been part of the Colorado River story. Seventy-five years ago, conflict gave way to coop- eration as the seven states forged the Colorado River Compact. Continued controversy is no doubt in the future. Whether it will lead to conflict or cooperation remains to be seen, but those who attended the symposium at Bishop's Lodge stressed the need for collaboration to address the increas- ingly complex issues. Major questions remain to be solved regarding Mexico's water allocation; salinity control; rafting flows and endangered species protec- tion; American Indian water rights and transfers; and whether users, states and basins should be able to freely move water from one user to another. In the past, the approach to issues within the basin has been a mix of negotiation, litigation and legislation. Today, partnerships have been formed to address some issues and negotiators are discussing water marketing. Lawsuits, however, remain a potent tool for the competing interests to get what they want. "In the environmental issues and in working out the Indian water rights issues it is imperative that we stay with the process, that we not turn over the decision-making process to courts who tend to take all-or-nothing views," said Tom Hine, an attorney for the Arizona Power Authority. "The history of the river, the development of the river is an evolving process. We are faced with different problems this year than we were five, 10, 15, 20 years ago. We need to handle them as they come up." Whether these events will require actual change to the compact and the other components of the law of the river remains to be seen. "The compact set into this rigid pattern that these state lines would be terribly important and that states would be apportioned and you all had to live with it," said former Interior Secretary Stewart Udall. "And I'm not here to suggest we change it. I'm just saying, let's be realistic. That's a very rigid system. September/October 1997 And we've somehow made it work, and that's where we are." Another key issue is the relation- ship between the states and the federal government. The fear of federal control over water was one element that led to the compact even as its drafters pursued dollars from the U.S. Treasury to build the projects that would allow the use of that water. While all these issues will play critical roles in shaping how the river's management evolves over the next 75 years, it is the availability of water in this arid region that remains the critical question. "How is the surplus water to be apportioned among the basin states?" Zimmerman asked. "In 1922, the original apportionments were based on irrigated agriculture. But today the challenge is to meet the growing municipal and industrial needs while we continue to maintain a viable economy based on historic use." New innovative programs and partnerships will assist the region as it enters this next phase. "The difference is that scarcity was a speculated subject of debate in 1922," Weatherford said. "It is an imminent fact of life in 1997. Management of shortage will have become the end game by the lOath anniversary in 2002." .:. The scenic beauty of the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon. "It is imperative that we stay with the process, that we not turn over the decision-making process to the courts." - Tom Hine Arizona Power Authority 17