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. problems were not given significant consideration in the 1922 Colorado w 00 o (,,/1 River Compact Act, the 1928 Boulder Canyon Project Act, the 1944 . Mexican Water Treaty, and the 1948 Upper Colorado River Basin Compact. The other is that, except for siltation (sedimentation), water quality con- ditions in the basin have grown progressively worse. , Part of the reason water quality conditions have grown progressively worse is that the appropriation doctrine of water law--the system of law . that prevails in all of the Colorado River Basin States and the basin upon l/ which water has been allocated in the "Law of the River" --is itself not accommodating to water quality management. Since this doctrine may . not be well known to those living in areas where the riparian doctrine of water rights prevails, a brief word of explanation is in order. . Water Quality and the Appropriation Doctrine of Water Law The appropriation doctrine is stated succinctly in the following . passage from Water Policies for the Future, the Final Report of the The basic tenants of that system are that (l) a water right can be acquired only by the acquiring party diverting the water from a water course and applying it to a beneficial use and (2) in accordance with the date of acquisition, an earlier acquired water right shall have priority over other later acquired water rights. Water in excess of that needed to satisfy existing rights is viewed as unappropriated water, available for appropria.tion by diversion and application of the water to a benefiCial use. The process of appropriation can continue until all of the water in a stream is subject to rights of use through withdrawals from the stream. (p. Z71) . National Water Commission: . . l4 .