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N W CD CD , ''-J THE COLORADO WATERS DISPUTE 499 ship. For example, between 1943 and 1945 the policy-making position for Latin American affail'll changed hands four times and each new appointee adopted a diJferent program. "The ship of state zigzagged," writes Laurence Duggan, a top official in the Latin American Division at the time, and "no one could tell with certainty where it was headed.'" Then, too, the end of World War.II brought the State Department heavy responsibilities, includ- ing the negotiations to launch the United Nations. Moreover, many officials had come to associate the treaty, regardless of its imperfections, with the Good Neighbor Policy. They interpreted any attempt to modify the treaty as an attack on that policy and on hemispheric solidarity. Nevertheless, these prob- lems should not have intedered with an attempt to reach a meeting of minds with Mexico. Perhaps the issue of the quality of the water represenred an area on which no agreement could be reached. Though this might be true, the fact remains that: Royce Tipton and others from the State Department vigorously denied any such deadlock. Obviously a conflict with Mexico was in the mak- ing, and no one who was in a position to do so was trying to prevent it. For 15 years all remained quiet. As long as there was sufficient water in the river, the source of conflict lay dormant. The flow of water, however, was appreciably decreasing in the years after 1945. Less rain and snowfall, in- creased uses, and the operation of American storage reservoirs combined to reduce greatly the volume of water reaching Mexico. Much that did cross the international boundary was return flow, containing salts that were harmful to crops, but its mixture with fresher runoff was enough to eliminate the danger of loss. Unfortunately, in February 1961, a drainage channel from Arizona's Wellton-Mohawk project was completed, which carried off the re- turn flow of a .vast agricultural area. The addition of this new salty water to the Colorado changed the quality of river water dangerously. In the winter of 1961 the salt content reached 2,700 parts per million parts of water, or approximately 2,250 parts more salt than the water should contain for maxi- mum usage. Under the schedule of deliveries set up by the treaty, Mexico's demands during the winter were small enough to be met by. return flow. Rather than accept this highly saline water, Mexicans allowed it to flow on down into the Gulf of California. The resulting shortage of irrigation water caused crop losses which the Mexicans claimed amounted to more than 100,- 000 acres. Angered and bewildered by their losses, the farmers demanded good water and compensation. These demands were forwarded by the Mexican Government, which accused the United States of violating the 1944 treaty. The United States was quick to insist that the treaty imposed no obliga- tions "with respect to the quality of the water" -an interpretation given by the State Department 15 years before. Officials realized, nevertheless, that something needed to be done and offered to send fresh water to dilute the saline flow. Even so, the State Department insisted that this act of kindness should not be interpreted as a precedent; it was merely a friendly gesture on the part of the United States. It is too early to predict what course of action will be adopted and how the treaty will be ultimately interpreted. A special committee, authorized by both governments, has been studying the problem and the Presidents of both coun- · Laurence DuggaJl. "The America.." New York: Holt, 1949. p. 102. .,',,' ,- f'.(>~~',:" := ::"~""~ .,' .' .:\. :::', . . "':-~,':,-. ,'. ',"'-'. '-. '", >'~;.'~:^'.f' " .' ',"-" ,!<;" .,~': ' , ' '::~? "::;.-,: ."~ ';.,'.: '," ""'. :;....>..,.. . , -. ;>t;"',,;~:.~;;;!f:, ~I , .\,~. i", ';\' . " - - ;.....",-'1:; '.',' .. .<'. .--- ,:"'.: , ,,-y, .F, "t, .,:; :~' :;' '-',:' :;,,1,. ",t,:';'; J~