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<br />OD32"~ <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />to foster multi-state river basin management. Between 1936-1939, the States of <br /> <br /> <br />Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania each adopted legislation <br /> <br /> <br />creating the Interstate Commission on the Delaware River Basin (INCODEL)" <br /> <br /> <br />INCODEL was formed by its member states in partial response to many years of <br /> <br /> <br />contention' and even litigation over the apportionment of the basin's water and <br /> <br /> <br />related issues (Harris, 1983)" <br /> <br />INCODEL eventually recommended a water allocation formula for the <br /> <br /> <br />basin which was ratified by all states except Delaware. Then, in the late <br /> <br /> <br />1950's, after studying the issue of various institutional approaches to solving the <br /> <br /> <br />basin's problems, INCODEL agreed that a single, strong administrative entity was <br /> <br /> <br />needed to resolve basin conflicts and coordinate basin development. <br /> <br /> <br />Negotiations were therefore authorized in 1959 for the creation of a Delaware <br /> <br /> <br />River Compact and an administering Commission. The compact was rapidly <br /> <br /> <br />concluded (for compacts), and became effective in 1961 following state and <br /> <br /> <br />congressional ra tifica tion. <br /> <br />Ability to Resolve River Basin Issues <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />In the case of INCODEL, uniform or complementary state legislation <br /> <br /> <br />seemed to smooth the way for an eventual, formal multi-state agreement <br /> <br /> <br />(compact) concerning river basin management. While it may be argued that <br /> <br /> <br />INCODEL's 20 years of existence may have been as long or longer than it would <br /> <br /> <br />have taken to negotiate a compact in the first place, that route had been tried <br /> <br /> <br />previously in the Delaware River basin with no success. In other words, it may <br /> <br /> <br />be said that INCODEL somehow "legitimized" and kept open interstate water <br /> <br /> <br />management discussions in the Delaware River basin, eventually resulting in the <br /> <br />-11- <br />