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001498 -11- projeot construotion by the Bureau of Reclamation or any other public or private agency, be eliminated. , 10, Controversies over contracts for Lake Mead water should be resolved by the Seoretary of the Interior. The Report asserts that, "there is not complete agreement among the states regarding the interpre- tation of the Compact and its associated documents, -- the Boulder Canyon Project Act, the California Self-Limitation Act, and the several oontracts between the Secretary of the Interior and individual states or agencies wi thin the states for the deli very of water from Lake Mead." Its authors say, "this Report makes no attempt to interpret the Colorado River Compact or any other aots or contraots relating to the allocation of Colorado River water among the states and among projeots within the states." ~. It is the view of Colorado that the long-standing controversies among the states in the main result from these oontracts made by the Secretary of the Interior with California and agencies thereof, It is likewise the position of Colorado that the amount of water which may be delivered under these contracts must be in strict complianoe with the provisions of the Colorado River Compact and the Boulder Canyon Project Act. Such complianoe is specified by the contraots themselves. Yet oertain provisions of these contracts raise oontroversies which admitted- ly must be settled before an ultimate plan of development may be realizec. in the Lower Basin. ,. The Report contemplates the future expansion of existing or ~uthor- ized projeots in California, inoluding the Coachella. These allowances will make the total "present" use of Colorado River water in California 5,802,000 aore feet annually. Under the California Self-Limitation statute, California is limited to 4,400,000 aore feet annually plus one- half of the surplus as defined by the Colorado River Compact. Under that Compaot the surplus may not be allooated between the two basins until after 1963. These increased and expanded uses would exoeed the California share by 1,402,000 acre feet annually, The failure to recognize and apply the limitation self-imposed by California makes the Report misleading. , Colorado respectfully suggests that since the Secretary of the Interior exeouted these contracts on behalf of the Government, it is in- oumbent upon him to interpret them separately and in oonneotion with the Colorado River Compact and the Boulder Canyon Project Aot. Unless the~e questions are otherwise resolved, it would seem'unreasonable and oontrary to public polioy for the Department of Interior, without interpreting the Acts, statutes and contraots above mentioned, to submit this Report, presaging a plan of development, to the Congress. 11, Initial stage of development. Among the plans and proposals is recommendation 1, paragraph 70 of the Regional Directors' Report, "that the states of the Colorado River Basin, aoting separately or jointly, reoommend for construotion, as the next stage of development, a group of