Gunnison news-champion., 1923-02-16
Weekly Letter from
RObt. r. Rockwell
ICo1aa4ed flom Flrst Pagel

tCCILEle1 from EErst Fage)
gr-a.--E la..g geA these seEtn gtates-
..e.- as.ll lsl.L--I ss.olers, Nth A.r.
Hoover. carried on hearings - vari-
g1- place. Jhr-UGt the states lnterezt-
al. AID have prepared the IHO com
l1gl. tllL are 1e.0ge the assembly Tor
ratification, Should they be satihed
further adjudication an defense of
.o.gr.--gs waters should be unnecea-
SAP. AZ least until these treaties shall
have teEWiEatey+.
SrCe the e commissioners began
Lh .r E0Iz, Two conditions have arlsea,
-l.aa.Hz tie necessity iI0m Colorado 5
5tagap1Int Of having some compact,
such a. is pIop05ed- First- came the
decision OF the L. ). supreme court in
Tie suit between Colorado and Myo-
ming. ] Am told that the supreme
court gave more time 20 this case
thaa il did TO any other decision that
vas ever brought before IT. including
the Dred Scott decision This deci-
sl6u vas % the effect that in case of
water disputes, state boundaries dld
no; count, the prior use OF the waters
take precedence. This would mean,
Of course, that Colorado could not con-
troll the waters rising within its
boundaries insofar rs the pIior use
Of those waters was determined to
belong 70 Colorado lands.
The second question which showed
the Importance Of such a treaty as is
proposed was the evident intention of
southern California or the L. s. Re
6 GmItion Service building the Boulder
dam, which viii be located on the
boundary between Utah and Arizona.
When this dam is built all OF the un.
appropriated water in the Colorado
uEer viii no doubt be filed on for its
g-g. Il is estimated to hold something
over 26,O00. 600 acre feet of water.
This dam, when built, is estimated to
hold a body OF water over 100 miles
in length.
The purpose OF this Boulder dam Is
10 stop the submerging OF the ImpCri-
al Valley during certain seasons of the
year and thru IrigatiOns, the 1000
acres Of fertile lands ia that valley be
irrigated during the dry season Of the
year. IL further seems that the build
ing Of this dam would store up enough
electricity TO light, heat and furnish
power to the whole southwest part
Of the United States. IL must be re-
meubered that this part OF the coun-
Try has no coal and is in need of heat,
light and power being furnished in
this way.
In addition TO this Boulder dam,
there are proposed to be built the
Edison dam, which IT is expected will
file on 25.000,000 acre feet of water.
The city of Los Angeles, which has
notified its intention of fling on the
entire flow of the Colorado river. and
the Durant Company, which has filed
on 100000 cubic feet per second of
water for a site in Arizona.
II can therefore be readily seen
that IL this decision of the U. S. Su-
preme Court is not changed the
Western Slope may find that its fu- !
ture development so far as irrigation /
is concerned, will come to standstill. 1
| might say Of those who oppose this
compact, claim that the people of the
Southwest will not dare construct
these dams as long as there is any
question about their getting sufficient
water for them. However, this point
OF view is rather the exception than
the rule.
There is an estimated flow at Lees
of water per year. The upper states,
~ l1Nt u, +SOtO.,
Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico,
guarantee 5000, 900 acre feet in
ten years, or an average of IA mil /
lion acre feet year.lt is agreed und-
er the compact that if we have more |
water than We need one year, that we
may cut down on the amount passing
Lees Ferry another year, just SO that
15, ,000, 900 acre feet will pass during
the 10 year period.
The men who have studied this ques- 4
ton maintain that it is physically i'm
possible for the four upper states to
ed to themselves. At the present
time it is estimated that two aud one
half million acre feet is used by these
states. AS We all know, approximate
ly one third of. the water used for ir-
rigation returns by seepage, waste,
etc, back into the streams, so that il
these figures are correct, Western
Colorado and the parts of these other
three states which can use this water,
can develop four times as much as it
is today and still have plenty of water
for irrigation and other purposes.
There arc several other details of
the bill, such for instance as guaran- {
tee of million acre feet per year to
the people along the GiIa river, who
would not enter into the compact un- I
less they were guaranteed this amount,
which ! will not take time to discuss.
Friday afternoon, Judge w. N.
Searcy of Durango, with other at
torneys appeared before the joint meet
ing of the house and senate commit
tees that were interested in this sub
ject, and stated their fears regarding
certain features of the compact Judge
Searcy was very fair and stated both
sides of every que ton at issue, and
there is no question but rome of his
points needed to be taken care Of
His position as representing the San
Juan Basin and in fact Western Colo
RADIO, was that they were very desir- !
GUS Of having the compact ratified on
ACCOUNT of the facts [ haze rn..rfioned