Colorado Water Congress Newsletter

Document: Colorado Water Congress Newsletter, June 25, 1963, page 4-4- the lower basin's 7.5 million acre feet on this basis: 4.4 million acre feet to California 2.8 to Arizona, 0.3 to Nevada. But it did not require them to do so and they didn't do it. The Project Act protected the upper basin against California, should Arizona refuse to ratify the Compact, by providing that the Act would not take effect until six states including California ratified the Compact and not until California legislature agreed to limit its annual consumption of Colorado River water to 4.4 million acre feet of the waters apportioned to lower basin states, plus half of any surplus unapportioned by 1963. California legislature lost no time in passing its Self Limitation Act. Six states (not Arizona) ratified the Compact and the Project Act became effective in 1929. Arizona filed a complaint in the U.S Supreme Court in 1930, asking that the Compact and the Project Act be declared unconstitutional. She asked for a permanent injunction which would prevent construction of Hoover Dam. The Supreme Court dismissed Arizona's complaint. In 1932, California divided up her water among various state interests who subsequently contracted with the Secretary of Interior for water deliveries totaling 5,362, 000 acre feet. Arizona objected to California contracts for deliveries in excess of 4.4 million acre feet, declaring they were for surplus water which would not be divided until 1963. Metropolitan Water District of Southern California contracted for 1.2 million acre feet of this "surplus water." Then MWD went after the water. MWD proposed another bigEpson Perfection 4870 Photo, 400 dpi, 8 bit, 1,790,832 byte