FUTURE NEEDS FOR DEVELOPMENT 259 



in these larger conflicts and may show remarkable inconsist- 

 ency in their policy. For instance, California in her "Counties 

 of Origin" act pertaining specifically to the Central Valley 26 

 has established the policy of reserving certain rights for the 

 counties in which the water originates and permits others to 

 appropriate only the waters that are surplus to the contem- 

 plated needs of the counties of origin; but has advanced con- 

 trasting arguments in her assertion of rights in the water of 

 the Colorado River, of which a negligible amount originates 

 within California. 



As Hutchins has pointed out, 27 each state is entitled to an 

 equitable apportionment of benefits from the use of an inter- 

 state stream, and some states have resorted to compacts for the 

 adjustments of conflicting interests. The United States Su- 

 preme Court 28 has established certain principles applicable 

 to the apportionment of interstate water, among which are the 

 following: 29 



1. Each state is entitled only to an equitable share of the 

 water of an interstate stream, and an adjudication decree 

 in one state cannot confer water rights in excess of its 

 share. 



2. Adjustment of rights in controversy may be made by com- 

 pact as well as by a suit in the Supreme Court, which rec- 

 ommends the compact method to avoid litigation. 



3. Whether made by compact or Supreme Court decision, 

 the apportionment is binding on the citizens of each state 

 and on all claimants of water rights. 



4. The apportionment may provide either for a continuous 

 division of water or for rotation in use of the stream. 



5. No claimant has any right greater than the equitable 

 share to which the state is entitled, so that no claim can be 



26 Water Code of the State of California, Sec. 11460. 



27 Hutchins, op. cit. pp. 407-413. 



28 Hinterlider v. LaPlata River and Cherry Creek Ditch Co. (304 U.S. 92), 

 1938. 



29 Hutchins, op. cit., pp. 412-413. 



