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OD[J870 Census Bureau at '$87,000,000, equivalent to about . $27 per acre irrigated, and about $35 per acre of field crops harvested from irrigated lands, Most of this investment was from private capital. In fact all of it was except for the Grand Valley and Uncompahgre projects in western Colorado constructed about 1909 by the Reclamation Bureau, From 1909 to about 1936 little progress was made-no federal and but few private irrigation enterprises being constructed during that period, In recent years, several small res- ervoirs have been constructed in western Colorado, a few others have been authorized, and several dozen are under investigation out of the 100 or more needed in that territory, In the Rio Grande valley, the San Luis valley project, to cost about $17,000,000 has been authorized for irrigation and flood control pur- poses, In the Arkansas vaIley the John Martin (Cad- doa) reservoir is under construction for flood con- trol and irrigation purposes, at a cost of $14,500,000. In the South Platte basin, the Colorado-Big Thomp- son project is under construction, at a cost approxi- mating $25,000,000 for irrigation and perhaps $40,000,000 for power, Thus in the past seven years the water projects constructed, under construction, and authorized in Colorado, will involve about $40,- 000,000 for repayable irrigation features, and ap- proximately $74,000,000 for non-repayable power and flood control improvements, The future of this promotional work is uncertain, It depends, among other factors, principally upon: (1) the national policy with respect to a public works program after the war; (2) the national policy with respect to tariffs against imported agricultural prod- ucts; and (3) what is accomplished in Colorado in the field of industrial development of markets for the hydro-electric power generated in connection with trans-mountain diversion projects, In conclusion, may I mention briefly another and important factor involved in Colorado's water devel- opment program, which has to do with the claims, interests and rights of others in the waters of natural streams in Colorado. Regardless of the physical amount of Colorado's water resources, the rights of the State are not unlimited, but are relative to the rights of other civilizations that are dependent on utilization of the same waters, Colorado's constitution, adopted in 1876, dedicates the waters of natural streams to the use and benefit of citizens of the State, For 25 years our constitution was unchallenged, But in 1901 Kansas filed a suit, challenging Colorado's doctrine of appropriation as being contrary to national water laws, While the Court in 1907 upheld Colorado's right to adopt and operate under its priority appropriation doctrine, it also held that other States had or might acquire rights in the streams arising in Colorado. Then fol- lowed other suits on the Arkansas, Republican, Lara- mie and other rivers, wherein rival claimants sought to define their rights in and to the water resources in Colorado. Such relative rights may be defined eith~ court decree or by mutual accommodation and agree- ment under the Compact Clause of the federal con- stitut:on, Colorado pioneered in the field of interstate compacts. Through the efforts of the Hon, Delph Carpenter, compacts were negotiated on the Colorado river between the lower and upper basin States; on the South Platte river, between Colorado and Nebras- ka' on the La Plata river, with New Mexico, with wh'om a tentative or five-year agreement was also reached on the Rio Grande, Since our Board was created in 1937, a final compact on the Rio Grande has been concluded with 'New Mexico and Texas; a compact has been negotiated on the Republican river with Nebraska and Kansas; and negotiations are under way for compacts on CostiIla Creek with New Mexico, and on Little Snake river with Wyoming, Before the United States Supreme Court, the lit,. gation which developed over the LaPlata compact has been concluded; the litigation filed by Wyoming on the Laramie river, charging departures from the previous decree, has been decided; the suit filed by Colorado against Kansas, to enjoin pending litiga- tion concerning the Arkansas river, was recently de- cided in Colorado's favor; and the suit filed by Nebraska against Wyoming, concerning the North Platte river, in which Colorado was made an im- pleaded defendant, and in which the United States appears as an inten-ener, is completed so far as tes- timony is concerned and is in the hands of the Spe- cial Master, This protective program takes much time, but is necessary in behalf of the State and the future of its citizens. Projects may be constructed, but if its water supplies are over-estimated or curtailed by legal barriers, its construction costs may be con- verted from a benefit to a burden, Conceivably its entire investment may be destroyed, if the title or the right to use water be nullified by court decree or ill-conceived agreements with rival claimants, Commonly the rival claimants are neighboring States into which the waters from Colorado flow, Recently another nation has become involved, After se',eral years of negotiations, that could not be pub- licly discussed, our State Department has .concluded a treaty with the United Mexican States, concern- ing the Colora~o and Rio Grande rivers, which has been submitted by the President to the Senate for approval. Again, the rival claimants may be agencies and departments of the United States, Proposed river basin authority bills have demanded and received oppositicn from Colorac!o and other reclamation states, Now we are confronted with Congressional legislation, apparently sponsored by the War Depart- ment, which if adopted would place navigation in- terests superior to irrigation, and thus might con- ceivably affect adversely the irrigation developments now acccmplished and contemplated in the South Platte and Arkansas river basins in Colorado, And finally, in this connection, the United States, through its Interior Department, and seemingly ill behalf of its Reclamation Bureau, is contending, in the North Platte river case, in effect, that the un- appropriated waters of natural streams in Colorado belong, not to the State and its citizens, but to the United StateG; and, as a second caUse of action, that the United States as an appropriator under State laws has rights which, however, are not subject to the authority of State administrative officials, In conclusion, and as a personal opinion, may I state, in regard to the trans-mountain diversion projects, to be described by speakers following, that there is need for the contemplated water supplies now; that the water can be employed with benefit, and payments therefor can begin, as soon as con- struction can be completed and deliveries can begin; that the Colorado river, though large, has water supplies that are not inexhaustible; that if con- struction is delayed until markets develop for the power, the project may then be defeated by the absence of an available supply of water, In brief, such projects must be undertaken and accomplished by this generation, or perhaps not at all.