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116 WATER LAW REVlEW Volume 5 In the ensuing years, the case progressed from the La Plata County District Court to the Col~rado Supreme Court. The supreme court reversed the lower court 'and found in favor of the Ditch Company. The court asserted that the Compact was not a defense and ordered Colorado water officials to allow the Ditch Company to divert whenever water was available in the La Plata River that was not subject to prior appropriations in,Colorado.7S Colorado water officials appealed the decision to the United States Supreme Court. In re.jdering the opinion of the Court, Justice Brandeis reaffirmed the iJiltent of the Compact to equitably apportion the La Plata River betweer the two states for application to beneficial use." The Court reversed I the Colorado Supreme Court's decision and found the Compact the binding instrument among both states and their respective individual water users." The central thrust of the decision was based upon! the finding that the priority of the Ditch Company's water right co:Uld only be administered within Colorado's share of the interstate riVer, and not New Mexico's portion.'I The Court's holding confirn)ed the position of the Colorado State Engineer to meet Colorailo's Compact obligations, but working with local upstream water user~ in drought conditions to deliver water past their headgates for delivery to a downstream state continues to present challenges. E. COORDINATION BETWEEN COLORADO AND NEW MEXICO WATER ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS Effective interstate water administration of the La Plata River Compact is based upon knowing the amount of water available at the two index streamflow gaging stations, the amount and location of ditch diversions, and th~ travel time between key locations in the system. Advancements' in water measurement and reporting technologies aid water qfficials in the daily administration of this ephemeral river. For exajnple, the two streamflow gaging stations are equipped with remote I sensing equipment that instantaneously measures river height at pfteen minute intervals to complement the continuous streamflow Irecorders." A satellite transmits this information at regular intf'rvals. the information is then transformed into streamflow amounts for viewing by water officials and public water users in both states. This !instant and perpetual source of information provides an effective tool ~o monitor and distribute the gready varying water supplies to intrasta~e water users and to meet compact delivery requirements with the highest level of efficiency and confidence. It also subjects water administration officials to intense scrutiny by both 78. Hinderliderv. La Plata ~ver & Cherry Creek Ditch Co., 304 U.S. 92, 99 (1938). 79. [d. at 103.104. : 80. [d. at 106. 8!. [d. at 108. 82. See La Plata River Compact, COLO. REv. STAT. art. I, ~ 37.63.101 (2001),43 Stat. 796, 796. '