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

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29

burden must first be satisfied. . . .74
A few years later, Carpenter insisted that the Mexican burden was supposed to
come entirely from the Lower Basin supply composed of the 8.5 mafprovided
by the Upper Basin and the sources already existing below Lee's Ferry. "This
is the plain meaning of the simple language of the [C]ompact," he wrote, "and
any shifting of burdens or agreements respecting sources of supply within the
Lower Basin are purely local to that Basin and in no wise affect the rights of
the Upper Basin under the Compact." In other words, the Gila River was not
exempted from the Mexican Burden.75 Additionally, Carpenter asserted
It is interesting to note that the proposed gigantic aqueduct for Southern
California cities was not in contemplation at the time of the [C]ompact
negotiations and was not included in the Lower Basin setup. In fact, the
records show that [at the Grand Junction meeting] California openly
opposed all diversions from the watershed. 76
The amount of water Carpenter was willing to assure the Lower Basin
for the Mexican Burden and other purposes gradually evolved from his early
opposition to annual minimum flow guarantees to a plan for ten-year
averagmg.
The Lower Basin fought for a guaranteed minimum annual annual flow.
Arizona Commissioner W. S. Norviel urged Carpenter to accept a
commitment calling for delivery of 4.5 maf annually and a ten-year average of
82 maf or 4 maf with a five-year average of 41 maf. 77 But Carpenter squirmed
over this proposal. After consultation with Meeker, he told the commissioners:
Whenever [the] minimum is considered it must be realized, -- and I
want to reiterate it, -- that the. . . necessity for a minimum results from
the penalty visited upon the source. It comes from a drought that strikes
at the root of agriculture in the upper section. The result of that drought