WSP04958

• File Number: 8200.300.40
• Description: Colorado River Compact
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Date: 8/1/1997
• Author: Daniel Tyler
• Title: Delpheus Emory Carpenter and the Colorado River Compact of 1922
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Publication

I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I

I I

Basin's right to equality required protection and a compact was the only way
to achieve this security.
Protection of basin- of-origin states had to include both present and
future needs. Carpenter was as vocal on this issue in regard to the Arkansas,
La Plata and South Platte rivers as he was in regard to the Colorado River. 18 A
compact would prevent a free-for-all race to see who could develop the
fastest, because it would assure each participant state that its rights were
permanently protected no matter how long it might take to get its economic
engines runhing efficiently.
In sum, Carpenter was convinced that a compact would preserve state
sovereignty, allow for healthy growth, encourage private development of both
diversion works and irrigation projects, avoid costly litigation, assure the
supremacy of equitable apportionment instead of prior appropriation across
state lines, eliminate future embargoes by the Reclamation Service and settle
title to water rights on the river before the construction of dams and
reservoirs. Underlying Carpenter's sanguine outlook was his belief that there
was sufficient water in the Colorado River for the needs of all seven states and
Mexico. Even so, he recognized that entering into a compact was a delicate
process which could only be accomplished with the greatest tact, patience and
diplomacy. Unless the steps taken by compact participants were precise and
articulated with ample forethought, compact negotiations would probably fail.
Following consent of Congress and the organization of a compact
commission, it was essential to have, first and foremost, accurate and
sufficient hydrographic data on river flow; facts that would have to be
acquired "through systematic study covering several years." Through their
own hands-on recognizance, commissioners would also have to be familiar
with the physical nature of the river, the agricultural possibilities of