About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

19 Stan. L. Rev. 1 (1966-1967)
The Colorado River

handle is hein.journals/stflr19 and id is 29 raw text is: The Colorado River* Charles J. Meyerst The Colorado River flows some i,3oo miles from its headwaters in Wyoming and Colorado to its mouth in Baja California, Republic of Mex- ico, where it empties into the Gulf of California, an estuary of the Pacific Ocean. The main stream and the tributaries comprising this system drain 242,000 square miles of land in the United States and 2,ooo square miles in Mexico.' The system is the only significant source of surface water in an area bounded by the Rocky Mountains on the east and the Sierras on the west and encompassing one-twelfth of the continental United States, ex- cluding Alaska. The Colorado River has been the cause of bitter and protracted struggles. Control of the river means potential wealth and prosperity; without water from the river, a state may be condemned to desert and destitution. Yet, as high as the stakes are, the allocation of the waters of the Colorado River system has been accomplished largely by agreement rather than by liti- gation. This Article endeavors to identify the forces that have led to the settle- ment of the conflicts by agreement, the nature of the settlements, and the areas of disagreement left open (intentionally or unintentionally) in the documents of settlement. Following a description of the geography, hydrology, and economy of the basin and of the out-of-basin areas dependent upon the river (Part I), the discussion of the controversies over use of the river is divided into four sections: the Upper Basin-Lower Basin conflict, which produced the Colo- rado River Compact of 1922-the effective date of which was 1929 (Part II); the controversy among the states of the Upper Basin, which was re- solved in large part by the Upper Colorado River Compact of 1948 (Part III); the controversy among the states of the Lower Basin, the most signifi- cant recent development in which is the decision of the United States Su- preme Court in Arizona v. California2 (Part IV). The conflict between © 2 1966 by Charles J. Meyers. t B.A. 1949, Rice University; LL.B. 1949, University of Texas; LL.M. 2953, J.S.D. 1964, Co- lumbia University. Professor of Law, Stanford University. The author is indebted to Mr. A. Dan Tarlock, LL.B. Stanford, x965, now Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Kentucky, for his assistance in the preparation of Parts I and III of this Article. This Article was commissioned by the New York University School of Law International Rivers Project and is scheduled to appear as a chapter in a book to be published under the sponsorship of the project. The author alone is responsible for the contents of the Article. i. American Section of the Int'l Water Comm'n, United States and Mexico, H.R. Doe. No. 359, 71st Cong., 2d Sess. 17 (X930). 2. 373 U.S. 546 (z963) (opinion), 376 U.S. 340 (x964) (decree). I

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most