The Coconino sun., 1922-12-15

elIorC to SeJIle present ana future controversies between the two sections by agreement. It proceeds upon the assumption, which is supported by the best expert advice upon the sub ject, that there is plenty of water in the Colorado river if properly con served for all legitimate uses of all of the states interested. It also pro- ceeds upon the assumption that each state has rights in the waters of the river which the other states are bound to respect. That no one states has a right to develop at the expense of the development of another state. That in the ownership of this great natural resource of the southwest, the seven states are in a sense partners. That the states in which the water origin ates have no exclusive right to those waters, and that the states through which these waters naturally flow on their way to the sea have no exclusive rights to the same.
 There seems to be some miSappre- hension with respect to the present use of water in the upper states. The number of acres irrigated in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah today exceeds the number of acres irrigated from the waters of the river south of the Utah line. The actual consumption of wa ter from the Colorado river proper in both sections, however, is practically the same. This is accounted for in the fact that it takes less water to irrigate lands in the upper states than in California and Arizona. The esti- mate of the probable or possible acre age that may be irrigated in the up- per states is approximately 100000 acres. If the consumption per acre be the same as that required at present the maximum requirements for the upper states when all these lands are irrigable will be approximately 6,0OO,- 900 acre feet per annum. This maxi mum use will in all probability not be reached in fifty years. It is well known fact that as lands are irrigat- ed from year to year less water is required so that the net result is a smaller depletion of the streams from which the water is derived.
 The pact establishes as a principle that the use of water for agriculture and domestic purposes shall have pre- cedence d IT the use of water for pow CT purposes.y This is especially ad- vantageous to the states on the lower
 iver inasmuch as no use whatever rcan be made of che water of the river while it flows through the Grand Canyon ey2ept for power and this use will not iRsgChe least diminish the flow available to agriculture below. From purely selfish and local standpoint, therefore the pact in it's effect upon the development of power in the can yon and in its effect upon agricul- ture below is of great and particular benefit.
 Without storage there can be no further use made of the river either in California or Arizona. With ade- quate storage there is an abundance of water not only for present uses but for all possible uses, power and agriculture, for the future. The aver age annual run off of the Colorado river basin exceeds 20,000,000 acre feet. Of this amount, approximately 19,000,000 acre feet originate above the Utah line. After the consump- tion in the upper states of 2,500,000 acre feet per annum the flow at Lees Ferry just south of the Utah line av- erages 16,400,000 acres feet per an mum. With an increase of use in the upper states up to the maximum of their possible development, with a corresponding increase of return flow that must follow, the average flow at Lees Ferry, unless climatic conditions shall change should be approximately 14,000,000 acre feet per annum. All of this immense flow will be available for use below both for power and other uses. The reclamation service estimates that with proper storage on the river approximately 4,000,000 H. P. may be developed south of the Utah line, allowing for 6,000,000 acre feet per annum consumption of water in the upper states. It is extremely doubtful if the maximum development of this power will ever be reached in the lifetime of any person now living.
 A reading of the pact will disclose that there is no attempt to divide the water between the upper and lower basin. What is done, is to give to the states of the upper division the right to use water for agriculture and do- domestic uses up to a maximum of 100000 acre feet. Coupled with this allotment there is the obligation ex- pressed in the compact that the up per states may not withhold water un- less the same is reasonably needed for agriculture and domestic uses. To safeguard the people of the lower riv CT during periods of dry years the pact makes it obligatory upon the up per states to cause not less than T. 500,000 acre feet per annum on the average to reach Lees Ferry, measur- ed over each continuous series of ten years. This provision is no restric- tion upon the lower states but is a restriction upon the upper states. The compact provides that the people of the lower states shall have the per petual right to the beneficial use of 8,500,000 acre feet per annum. This is not prohibition against the use of all the water that may flow down the river, but it is measure by which the respective rights of the two sections are to be determined, that is to say, the people of the up- per states have the right to increase their beneficial consumptive use with out being interfered with by the peo- pie of the lower states up to a max mum of 7,500,000 acre feet, while the people in the lower basin have the II