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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />4 <br /> <br />approved interstate compact was already being implemented by <br />Carpenter in negotiations with Nebraska on the South Platte River. <br />What Carpenter learned from the Kansas v. Colorado (1907) decision, <br />and what he had personally experienced during almost a decade of <br />trying to protect Colorado's right to Laramie River water in WvominQ <br />v. Colorado (1922), led him to search the Constitution for a way that <br />states could legally settle interstate water conflicts without <br />jeopardizing their future or compromising their state's rights in the <br />federal system of government. Article I, section 10 provided the basis <br />on which all interstate compacts could be negotiated. <br />Shortly after the Denver meeting adjourned, Carpenter sent <br />samples of draft legislation to governors of each of the seven <br />Colorado River states. It authorized the states' executives to appoint <br />commissioners entrusted with the responsibility of negotiating a <br />Colorado River compact between the states and the United States, <br />subject to the approval of Congress. For the most part, each state <br />adopted Carpenter's language. Congress, meanwhile, passed <br />legislation giving the seven states the right to commence <br />negotiations. President Warren G. Harding signed the act into law in <br />August, 1921. <br />Four months later Harding chose his Secretary of Commerce to <br />be the government's representative. Herbert Hoover, a Californian, <br />was not Carpenter's first choice, but his strong international record, <br />and his reputation as an impartial negotiator earned him the <br />confidence of the seven commissioners as they began negotiations in <br />Washington, D.C. in January, 1922. <br />Following Justice Hobbs' script, I've added a few words about <br />each of the seven commissioners and the special interests that <br />skewed their participation at Colorado River compact negotiations in <br />Washington and Santa Fe during 1922. <br /> <br />4 <br />