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r0- O) River Compact. This Compact divides the waters of the Colorado River system between what is called the Upper Basin States and the Lower Basin States. To the Upper Basin States it apportions 7,500,000 acre-feet annually, and to the Lower Basin States it appor- tions 7,500,000 acre-feet annually. It also gives to the Lower Basin States the right to use an additional 1,000,000 acre-feet annually. The Upper Basin States include Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Wyoming and a few square miles of Arizona. The Lower Basin States include Arizona, California and Nevada, and small portions of New Mexico and Utah. Shortly after it was drafted, the Compact was ratified by all of the basin states except Arizona. That state delayed ratifying the Compact until 1944, 22 years later. The question has been raised as to whether this action taken by Arizona after 22 years' delay actually constitutes a valid ratification of the Compact by that state. i~ C\l c.;J o MEXICAN WATER TREATY In 1945 the United States Senate ratified a water treaty between the United States and the Republic of Mexico. The treaty had to do with the division of waters of the Colorado River and the Rio Grande, as between the two countries. The treaty provides that Mexico shall be guaranteed 1,500,000 acre-feet of Colorado River water annually, plus 200.000 acre-feet when there is considered to be a "surplus." California and Nevada opposed the treaty because they maintained that Mexico was entitled to no more than 750,000 acre- feet of water, since that country never had used or been able to use more than that amount annually prior to the regulation of the stream by Hoover Dam. It was also shown by California and Nevada that the annual delivery of 1,500,000 acre-feet of Colorado River water to Mexican landowners would invade the long-established Colorado River water rights of American citizens. Arizona opposed the California and Nevada position and sided with the treaty advocates. The result has been to further deplete the limited flow of the Colorado River. HOOVER DAM Hoover Dam, standing 727 feet high, has created Lake Mead, largest reservoir in the United States, with a storage capacity of 31,000,000 acre-feet. Including the power plant, its estimated total cost is $173,000,000. It blocks a deep canyon section of the river where it forms the boundary between Arizona and Nevada. Hoover Dam differs in one important respect from many other river development projects in the United States. It was not built at the expense or risk of the general taxpayers of the country. Congressional legislation authorizing Hoover Dam provided that before it could be erected, the Secretary of the Interior must obtain firm contracts for the sale of Hoover power sufficient to repay construction costs, plus interest, within 50 years. California communities and private power companies signed such contracts and agreed to pay, and are paying for fixed quantities of power whether used or not. Total repayments made to the government to May 31, 1954 amounted, in round figures, to $81,000,000, Of that amount, $20,000,000 was credited against the Government's investment and $61,000,000 was for interest chatges. Construction of Hoovet Dam was authorized by the Boulder Canyon Project Act (Swing-Johnson Bill) passed by Congress in 1928. Work on the dam started in the summer of 1931 and it was completed in 1935. It began the generation of power in 1937. [8 ]