The realization of Arizona's need for water began in the 1940s. The Central Arizona Project Association was born in 1946 to lobby congress for money for the project's creation. Arizona Senators Carl Hayden and Ernest McFarland as well as Representative John Rhodes forsaw the need of water for the growing state and began legislation to create a system for Arizona to receive more of its share of Colorado River water.
In 1947 the first version of the Central Arizona Project was written. The legislation would easily pass the senate with the clout of Arizona's Senators (58-28). However, it would have considerable difficulty in the House of Representatives due to the fact that California's representatives, a considerable majority compared to Arizona's representatives, always opposed taking water away from its state. The House Committee on Public Lands constantly stopped the legislation from coming to the floor of the House.
Suits were constantly filed by Arizona proclaiming its rights to the river water, but were always dismissed because Arizona had not signed the Colorado River Compact (It was not signed until 1944). Arizona's complaint was finally heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1953. They assigned a special consul to help decide the case. Special Master Simon Rifkind gathered evidence from June 14, 1956 to August 28, 1958. The decision divided the river among the three states involved, California received 44/75ths, Arizona 28/75ths, and Nevada 3/75ths. The Supreme Court agreed to the report and decided on June 3, 1963 to proceed with the solution to the controversy.
After a few plans of creating a system were scrapped and California threatened
once again decided it was not getting enough water, a final decision on
the allocation of the water was made. California would receive 4.4 million
acre
feet of water, Arizona would recieve 2.8 million acre
feet, and Nevada would recieve 300,000 acre
feet of water from the Colorado. President Lyndon Johnson authorized
the construction of the Central Arizona Project on September 30, 1968.
Arizona's long struggle for water was over. Water from the Central
Arizona Project feeds the most vital parts of the population of the state
from Phoenix to Tucson water is pumped in to help those cities survive
in the Sonoran Desert.
Central Arizona Project Home Page
http://www.cap-az.com
California Water Law--Arizona v. California, (1963) 373 U.S. 546
http://ceres.ca.gov/theme/env_law/water_law/cases/AZ_v_CA_(1963).htm
Colorado River Basin Project-Central Arizona Project
http://dataweb.usbr.gov/html/crbpcap.html
Central Arizona Project Fact Sheet
http://www.hwr.arizona.edu/cap_factsheet.html
Central Arizona Project Files at the University of Arizona
http://www.library.arizona.edu/branches/spc/udall/udallfindingaid/ufa/cap.htm
Rio Colorado Parker Dam / by Marion V. Allen.
F788.A4x
The war for water in central Arizona, 1890-1903 / by Karen L. Smith.
TC424.A6
S66x
A river no more : the Colorado River and the West / Philip L. Fradkin
; photographs by the author.
F788
.F75 1996
Government Document
Authorization of C.A.P signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, 1968.
Serial Set Number:
12795-6 H.rp. 1861
Sidney Kartus collection, 1910-1957 ( Colorado River Controversy and
Water reclamation)
MS
FM MSS 39
J. Morris Richards collection, 1910-1989 (contains information on Governer
Moeur)
MS
FM MSS 39
Hayden Family Papers, 1844-1912 (Colorado River Controversy, Central
Arizona Project)
MS
CM MSS 84
Progress Report, News of Arizona's Water Fight, Central-Arizona-Project-Association,
1956
CE EPH QC-79
If
you would like to know more about the author of this site, Jeffrey Scott,
feel free to visit his homepage.
In
addition, if you have any questions about this site or Arizona History,
feel free to e-mail Jeffrey