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<br />nr. ... 0" <br />ud J.,OO: <br /> <br />terms of the Mexican Treaty, and in return for relinquishment of <br /> <br />all claims for damages, the <br /> <br />~ <br />0~~ <br />.~:jff <br /> <br />United States guaranteed to Mexico annual delivery of 60,000 <br />acre-feet of water in the Rio Grande at the head of the Mexican <br /> <br />Canal near Ciudad Juarez, with the provision that the nations <br /> <br />would share water shortages in times of drought. <br /> <br />Both to insure fulfillment of the terms of the Mexican <br /> <br />Treaty and to develop an interstate reclamation project in the <br />Elephant Butte-Fort Quitman reach of the river, the United <br />States in 1907 modified the Rio Grande "embargo" to permit <br /> <br />construction of Elephant Butte Dam by the U. S , Reclamation <br /> <br />Service, The dam was completed in 1916, along with other works <br />of the Rio Grande Irrigation Project of New Mexico and Texas, <br /> <br />~il~ <br /> <br />With the international water problem apparently settled by <br /> <br />the Mexican Treaty, competition for use of Rio Grande water by <br /> <br />the states of Colorado, New Mexico and Texas increased, The <br /> <br />U,S. Constitution forbids alliances and treaties between states, <br /> <br />but does permit agreements or "compacts" to be consilmmated with <br /> <br />the consent of Congress. These interstate compacts are our most <br /> <br />profound law and can supersede state "laws and even state <br /> <br />constitutions, <br /> <br />Compacts are generally agreed upon first by <br /> <br />representatives of the states involv~d; then are presented to <br /> <br />the state legislatures for ratification which is then approved <br /> <br />by the governor of each participating state; finally the <br /> <br />2 <br />