Law of the River

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Overview

Documents that provide an overview Kwon & Gimbel Law Journal Articles

Key Laws Key Court Rulings Compacts Treaties and Minutes Contracts

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1928 Boulder Canyon Project Act (45 Stat. 1057)

The Boulder Canyon Project Act (text) was enacted to control floods, improve navigation, regulate flows, store and deliver water for the reclamation of lands, and to generate electricity. It funded and approved the construction of Hoover Dam and the All-American Canal contingent on the approval of the Colorado River Compact. Given Arizona’s refusal to ratify the Compact because of disputes over the Gila River and its desired allocation, the act allowed for approval if 6 states, including California, ratified the compact provided that California limited itself to 4.4 maf /year of Colorado River water. The act reserved for Arizona complete use of its tributaries. In 1963, the US Supreme Court in Arizona v. California (below) found that Congress via the act had apportioned the flow of the Colorado River among California, Nevada and Arizona.

Nathanson’s Chapter I provides many details on the Act (link). Many documents relating to water and power contracts signed can be found in Reclamation’s compilations of Law of the River documents. These include Hoover Dam Documents 1933 (link), Hoover Dam Documents 1948 (text) Updating Hoover Dam Documents in 1978 (text), 2008 Colorado River Documents (text). The original act was modified in 1940 by the Boulder Canyon Adjustment Act (text) which modified the power rate structure agreed to in the original power contracts.

Los Angeles Times writer Michael Hiltzik covered the construction and history of Hoover Dam in his 2010 book, Colossus [link]

1931 California Seven Party Agreement media:UHDD_1978_Snips_California_Seven_Party_Agreement.pdf text

The Secretary of the Interior requested California internally agree on the priorities of Colorado River water users before issuing water contracts. In 1931 the parties provided this agreement. The first three priorities totaled 3.85 maf/year of water for agricultural uses in the Palo Verde Irrigation District, the Yuma Project (Reservation Division), and the Imperial and Coachella Valley irrigation districts. The 4th priority was 550 kaf/year for the Metropolitan Water District. These first four priorities totalled 4.4 maf/year. Three additional priorities to Metropolitan, San Diego, Imperial, Coachella and Palo Verde added another 962 kaf/year in use for a total of 5.362 maf/year. Due to ambiguities in the original agreement, in 200x, the parties agreed to modifications (link).

1944 Treaty with Mexico (link)

media:HDDocs_1948_Chapter_XIV_The_Mexican_Water_Treaty.pdf