Phillips County herald., 1923-02-08
THE COLORADO COMPACT

I. According to Secretary Hoover,
the worst thing about the new Col
orado river compact is the fact that
1t will destroy much oratory. It
makes for growing spuds.. not for
glowing speech" To understand fully
whit he means it is necessary to go
back to a clause in the federal con-
stitution which provides that two or
more states may enter into an agree.
ment or treaty among themselves pro
vided it is ratified by congress. Col
orado and Kansas and Colorado and
Nebraska and Colorado and Wyoming
have long disputed over the division
of waters desired for irrigation hav-
ing their origin in the Rocky noun
tains. Because of uncertainty as to
interstate rights the development Of
irrigation and power projects on the
Colorado river has been retarded,
altho the building of dams and the
diversion OF the water promises great
rewards.
To secure the development Of this
stream and the territory making up
the Colorado river basin the states Of
Arizona. California. Colorado, Nevada.
New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming
signed thru their official representa-.
tives at Santa Fe, N. NJ, on Novem-
ber "a, last, a compact providing for
the development Of the river and .
distribution Of the benefits among all
of the states concerned. The compact
divides the river system into an upper
and lower basin, and on natural
boundaries and economic lines. The
famous grand canyon divides these
poftions OF the river. It allocates in
pefpetuity 80 percent Of the total ma
|tdral flow Of the river which will be
more than snfllcient to water all Of
the lands that can be brought under
the ditch in the next forty years. At
the end Of that time II there is need
for the water the remainder. or 20 per
cent Of the total flow. will be appor-
toned among the states on any basis
that seems Just and desirable at that
time. One Of ths most inportsat fea'
|tures Of the COMPACT ~ the fact that
tik, dses ssrlealtsrs psveeaepee eyss
nov1r. A -tha. rissr = -tloGr-ees
| that purpose i mids ln6e>f lsdit 70
| al other uses. The f1tt thetsthe river
| flows into the gulf Of calisoenia soath
| Of the international line may bring up
the question OF Mexican rights. The
management OF this matter il left en-
tirely to the state department.
The records Of the. reclamation serv-
Ice show that there are million and q
half acres already under irrigation in
the northern basin and another two
million and half acres are suscept.
BILE Of irrigation. The lower basin has
under irrigation today approximately
million acres. with million more
susceptible OF improvement. Il 10
agreed that there ID sumcient water
to meet the irrigation needs Of all OF
the lands in all OF these states that
can be reached by bitches. Also that
5000. 900 horsepower Of energy may
be developed II proper reservoirs for
storage are built. These reservoirs
would benefit agriculture by stabilis'
Ing the flow. Inasmuch as the normal
low water flow OF the river 10 prac'
tically all absorbed by irrigation. the
production of this power and the ad'
dition OF more than 100000 acres To
the irrigated area Of the country will
be clear profit. beyond the cost OF the
Improvement. II now requires only
the endorsement OF the plan BY con-
gress and the legislatures Of seven
states TO enable the government "a
proceed in authorizing series Of the
greatest engineering works OF our
time.--Lincoln (Neb.) Journal.