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<br />001808 <br /> <br />that of using every means to retard development in the lower State <br />until the uses within the upper State have reached their maximum. <br /> <br />Now, the lower basin States wanted the assistance of the Federal <br />Government in terms ot OU~La~ng a dam such as Hoover Dam. ~~ that <br />time the actual site of such a dam had not been determined by the <br />appropriate engineers. <br /> <br />But this matter of history to which I have referred, which must be <br />looked at in interpreting the provisions of the compact, will be found <br />substantiated by contemporary statements from Commissioner Emerso~ of <br />Wyoming, the citation there would be page A-l23 of the document I <br />referred to previously; Legal Adviser Sloan, of Arizona, in a published <br />statement appearing at page A-65; the statement I referred to pre- <br />viously by Herbert Hoover, representing the united States, at page <br />A-37; and a statement by the Honorable Delph Carpenter which appears <br />on page A-BO. <br /> <br />Now, in the light of that history, it is our conclusion that article <br />lII(e), dealing with this so-called prohibition on the withholding of <br />water bars only arbitrary and unreasonable withholding of water and <br />in the light of article III (d) of the compact, the storage project <br />which is pending before this committee for authorization is not an <br />arbitrary withholding of water. <br /> <br />Herbert Hoover said, referring to this very provision upon which <br />Governor Johnson bases his conclusions: <br /> <br />This paragraph applies only to an unreasonable or arbitrary with- <br />holding or demand. I do not anticipate either arbitrary action or <br />unreasonableness on the part of any of the States concerned. The <br />upper States can gain nothing by withholding water not needed, nor <br />can the lower States gain by demanding water for which they have no <br />use. The paragraph is of value as an expression of the prohibition <br />of such action but I doubt if it is ever called into practical effect. <br />(P. A-39, the Hoover Dam documents.) <br /> <br />The very purpose of the project which is pending before this com- <br />mittee for authorization is to equa~ize the flow of this river at Lee <br />Ferry. In that way it is proposed that the upper obligation shall <br />meet the obligation under article III (d) not to deplete the flow at <br />Lee Ferry below 75 million acre-feet in any continuous lO-year period. <br /> <br />The intention of the plan pending before this committee is not to <br />store water which is not reasonably necessary to meet this obligation. <br />This seems clearly to be anything but an "arbitrary withholding" in <br />the words of Mr. Hoover. <br /> <br />5 <br />