128 OUR USE OF THE LAND 



though a water user may have been there first, another water 

 user who needs the water for a better purpose has a better 

 right to the water. 



The difficulties at Boulder Dam are an example of just how 

 complicated this problem may be. A compact was formed by 

 the six states in the Colorado River Basin. This compact was an 

 attempt to arrange for a just division of the water of Boulder 

 Dam. Like other similar interstate compacts, it has been ratified 

 by Congress. The states, however, have been unable to reach 

 any decision about just how the water should be divided. In 

 addition to this, the Colorado River is an international stream, 

 and Mexico claims a certain portion of the water. 



When the International Water Commission, the agency 

 that handles problems of international streams, like the St. 

 Lawrence, the Rio Grande, and the Colorado, tried to settle 

 the problem, it found itself stumped by this fact. The various 

 states argued that since the Colorado had all of its sources in 

 the United States, Mexico had very little claim to the water. 

 They proposed to give to Mexico enough water to cover 750,- 

 000 acres to the depth of one foot. Mexico considered this 

 offer ridiculous, as they need from 3,480,000 to 4,500,000 

 acre feet a year to irrigate 1,500,000 acres of arid land. 16 

 According to another source, Mexico needs 3,357,000 acre 

 feet; Los Angeles, 2,148,000 acre feet; Upper Basin, 9,593,' 

 000 acre feet; Lower Basin, 9,909,000 acre feet. This is 6/ 

 211,000 more acre feet than there are. 17 



There the problem rests. The states cannot agree on how 

 much water each of them should get from the dam. To compli 

 cate the problem more, no one has decided who has the right 

 to settle these problems. Those who believe in the Colorado 

 Doctrine think that the states should settle it. The supporters 

 of the California Doctrine think the federal government has 



16 National Resources Board Report, op. cit., p. 382. 



17 Parkins and Whitaker, op. cit., p. 298. 



