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"J J ':1 the provisions of the agreement. The slate binds its citizens as well, "so thai individual rights are affected along with sovereign rights. Thus stales may alter, or even abrogate, private water rights by means of interstate water compacts."62 There 15 one customary formality with regard to the ratification of interstate compacts which should not be underestimated. All congressional action involving interstate compacts has in the past been submitted to the President lor ap- proval Or disapproval. While there is no consti- tutional requirement for this final step in the ratification process, Presidential disapproval has necessitated renegotiation in at least one case. On April2. 1942, President Roosevelt vetoed the original Republican River Compact alter Con- gress had granted its consent. The compact was renegotiated to alleviate the objections and was approved in revised form by both the Congress and the President.63 This emphasizes the wis- dom 01 including a federal representative ap- pointed by the President in compact negoti- ations. One final concern with respect to the creation of interstate compacts is "the power of the states and/or Congress to endow a compact entity with adequate revenue raising authority to make its operations largely self-sustaining and independ- ent of the traditional reliance on legislative ap- propriations:.64 A compact administration that is financially independent of its component state legislature might be encouraged to take a more regional outlook in its development plans. Many of these compact weaknesses can be alleviated or eliminated by careful and thorough compact negotiation. One author has recom- mended that "any effective interstate water compact contain the following provisions. 1. Establishing a compact commission (preferably limited to one commissioner Irom each state). 2. Conferring adequate enforcement, ad- judicatory. and regulatory powers on the commission so that there is continuing supervision with coercive authority... 3. Providing a majority method voting pro- cedure. 4. Provide adequate financing either through the states or through the oper- ation of the commission. 5. Including a federal representative on the commission. preferably with equal rights of the state commissioners.65 In summary there seems to be general agree- ment among observers of the compact approach that it is 'not Inherently more cumbersome and time-consuming in its creation and change" than the other approaches to water resource problems66 GROUNDWATER The methods of resolving interstate water problems which have been discussed have all been in the context 01 surface water disputes. The steadily increasing use of groundwater, however, has created problems and multiplied the potential for disputes involving the interstate use of groundwater as well. The differing char- acteristicsof groundwater may make it difficult to translate these methods, which have been ap- plied primarily in the area 01 interstate surface water, into effective means lor resolving inter- state groundwater problems. As noted earlier. the State of South Dakota threatened to sue the State of Wyoming to prevent the withdrawal of substantial amounts of groundwater from the Madison Formation, a groundwater aqUifer underlying both states, for the purpose of supplying waterto ETSI, Inc. for its coal slurry pipeline and for an adjudication of the right togroundwater in the formation. The threat- ened litigation however has not been instituted, as an alternative water supply source has been proposed and adopted. II is unclear what type of legal theory would be applied in litigation brought to allocate groundwater resources between states. The Ogallala Aquifer is another groundwater formation underlying six states which has al- ready suffered serious declines in many areas. A study of the groundwater depletions in the region was authorized by the Congress in 1976 with an eye towards development of a plan to increase water supplies in the area. Recommendationson further congressional action should be forth- coming. Finally, the desirability of compacting to ap- portion groundwater has been addressed on one occasion in Nebraska. The Upper Niobrara River Compact between Nebraska and Wyoming not only provides an equitable apportionment of the available surface water supply of the Upper Niobrara River Basin, but also provides for "obtaining information on groundwater and underground water flow necessary for apportion- ing the underground flow by supplement to this compact......67 The compact speCifically provides that groundwater investigations were to begin within one year of the effective date of the compact. Alter an initial data collection period of twelve months. an analysis of this data by Nebraska and Wyoming with the cooperation of the United Slates Geological Survey was to be made to determine the desirability of apportion- ing the groundwater supply. If it was decided that an apportionment was nol necessary or desir- able at that tIme, reanalysis was to be made at least every two years until an apportionment was 2.9