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<br />1307
<br />
<br />.0 when Powell ur,ced (hem (01.1.... 01.11
<br />'elf political bounaaflC's &lon,lt dram-
<br />age dIvides. $0 thai watershed and lim-
<br />ber lands, foothill ..-::ruln,il: ];Inds, and
<br />im,ll'..J.ted.\"aJler lands could be mAn-
<br />a,':ed lnlelli,il:endy .....unout conlllr!. The
<br />only pb.ce where a dr.una.ce dIVIde
<br />does mark a poliuca] boundary IS a
<br />sm."ren of tht' Conunenu.! Divide be.
<br />tween Id&ho and MOnlan.a And 10 cap
<br />this hmor)' of old hablu stubbornly
<br />clun,il: [oana hOpeSOUf oj prnp<>rllon [0
<br />possibilities, \I.'hen Pou'ell addressed
<br />,he booslers of the lrn.cilrion COnFrt:s5
<br />in Los An,il:e1es in 1893 and warned
<br />them rhat (he)' were Iaym,l: up a heri.
<br />tage of lillpllon and f<lilure because
<br />Ihere was on]~' enouJth Vo'J.cer to irnprt'
<br />a fifth of the """estern bods. tht' boosl-
<br />elS didn"' bSlen t'l[her They booed
<br />him.
<br />Powell understood the conse-
<br />quenct's of aridity, as the boosters did
<br />nOl, and still do not. \Xesterners "':1'10
<br />would like 10 relurn ro Ihe old da~'s of
<br />free ~rab, people of the kind deM:rlbed
<br />as havlnJ: made Amenca great b~' their
<br />inmative and energy in commimnJ:
<br />mass m~spus on the minerals, grass.
<br />.tlmber, and water of the Public D0-
<br />main, complain that no ~'eslern stale is
<br />mUler In in o""n house, Half us land is
<br />not lIS own. Eighty-five percent of Ne-
<br />vada is not r>o:evada, bUI the U.S.A.;
<br />rwo-thirds of Utah and Idaho likeWIse;
<br />nearl}' half of California, A mona, and
<br />\X'yoming-48 percent of [he eleven
<br />public lands Stales.
<br />The faa is, the stues never owned
<br />[hose lands, and ,Il:ave up all c1.l1m 10
<br />Ihem when [hey became states_ They
<br />were a1~'3.Ys federal lands, acquired by
<br />purchase, negotiation, or conquest be-
<br />fore any western Stale existed, And de-
<br />spite all complaints, [he \X'eSt has re-
<br />mained subsu_ntially fedecal. More by
<br />oversight Ihan intention, hOllo'evec, the
<br />federal government a1lol;l,ed the states
<br />[Q assert ownt'cship of the "''ater ",'ithin
<br />theIr boundant's, and that IS anualh' an
<br />o~'necship far more \'aluable but more
<br />complica[t'J Ihan [hat of Lmd_ Tht' feds
<br />own Ihe ""luersheds, Iht' Hream and
<br />lake beds, tilt' dam sites_ Federal bu-
<br />reaus, lIo'ith (he enlhusiastic concur-
<br />rence of we~lern chambers of com-
<br />merce, have since 1902 done moS! of
<br />. the co~t1}. Imroundmenl and dmribu-
<br />{lon of water And federal law, In a
<br />plOch. can and does occaSionally \-eto
<br />lIohal states and Irrigation districtS do
<br />lIo-11h thAt water II IS a good .':Ut'ss [hat II
<br />lIo-ill ha\-e 10 do so more and mort"-thal
<br />
<br />\\-ll.D[R'E~S
<br />
<br />F....ll 19 ~-
<br />
<br />
<br />Tht ColOr-miD R;t'tT, from TOroU't4P O,,,'-/ocl:, G"4"J C41Jyrm. "UU'Hl'Dl!
<br />
<br />unlt'ss (he states arrive at some rela-
<br />ti\'ely Uniform ~t of rules, order will
<br />have to be impou-d on wesrern lIo'3.rer
<br />by rhe federal governmenl_
<br />II .....iII not be easy, and [he federal
<br />,rovernment ha.s crealed a nasty dilem-
<br />ma for itself by giving its blessing borh
<br />[0 Ihe lep;al fiction of state waret o""ner-
<br />ship and 10 certain Native American
<br />ri,ll:hu 10 "''atee. As early a.s 1908, In the
<br />so-called "''inters Docltint' decision,
<br />Ihe Supreme Court contirmed the In-
<br />dians' ri~u to watet origtnatin,l!: "'-I[hin
<br />or 110",.tng throu,l!:h theIr reservations.
<br />Though thost' ri,lthu ha\'e nevet been
<br />quantified or PUI to uu-, Indian tribes
<br />all across the ,",'cst have leglUmar(" but
<br />unspeCified claims [Q lIo-a[er already
<br />,':ranted by the stales 10 ",'hHe tnd"'Idu.
<br />a1s and corporations_ Even .....uhour rhe
<br />Indian claims. man~' ",'estern streamr-
<br />,1 prime example IS rhe Color ad{_are
<br />a1rt'aJ~' o\-er-subM:tibed_ The Colorado
<br />RI"er Compact allocated I-.') million
<br />
<br />acre-feer amon,l!: the Upper Basin,
<br />lolIo'er B.asin. and Mexico. The actul
<br />annual flow since 1930 h.as avera.ced
<br />about 12 million acre-feet.
<br />
<br />Aridity arran,l!:ed all thar com-
<br />plicated natural and human
<br />mess_ In Ihe view of some:, It
<br />also helped to cre,lte a larp;e. spaCIOUS,
<br />independent, sunburned, self-rellan[
<br />lIo'estero charanee. and ,1 lar,l!:e, oren.
<br />democratic western society_ Of thai,
<br />despite a lIo'istful desire 10 believe. I am
<br />less than confidenl. That does 001
<br />mean either that [he \X'en should nevet
<br />have been selded or that "''ater should
<br />n('vet be mana,l!:ed. The W'est-the
<br />hablt,lble partS of II-is a splendId hab-
<br />Har for a hmued population 11'110,': '110'111'1-
<br />10 the country's rules of sparseness ,lod
<br />moblllt)'- If the unrestrillned en,l!:lOeer-
<br />ingot lIo-esrern water was OCl,l!:lOal SIn. .as
<br />I bel1eve, It 'IIo'U esse-nnally a SIO of
<br />M:ale. Anyone who wanu to !z\'e 10 dl('
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