Arizona v. California, et al. (373 U.S. 546 (1963)) Timeline
1952 August 13 - Arizona files motion in the Supreme Court for leave to file a bill of complaint against California and seven public agencies of the State
1953 Jan 19 - Arizona’s motion granted unopposed (344 U.S. 919)
1953 - 1954 - United States, pursuant to leave granted, intervened (344 U.S. 919 (1953)), as did Nevada (347 U.S. 985 (1954))
1954 June 1 - Court appointed George I. Haight, Esq. as Special Master to hear evidence
1955 - California moved to have Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming joined as necessary parties. Motion denied as to Colorado and Wyoming, and granted to Utah and New Mexico only to the extent of their capacity as Lower Basin States (350 U.S. 114 (1955))
1955 October 10 - After death of Master George I. Haight, the Court appointed Hon. Simon H. Rifkind to hear evidence
1956 - 1958 (June 14, 1956 - August 28, 1958) - Hearing held at the United States Courthouse at San Francisco. Trial produces:
· 234 witnesses
· 4000 exhibits
· 22,500 pages of reporter’s transcript
· 3,742 deposition transcripts
1958 August 13 - Arizona offered amended pleadings. Master decided unnecessary to receive the amended pleadings since Arizona would be prejudiced by their rejection
1958 August 28 - Trial ends. Master directs each of the parties to submit findings of fact, conclusions of law, and supporting briefs to be filed by 1959
1960 May 5 - Special Master submits a draft of his proposed report to litigants
· Decision departs widely from contentions of all parties to the suit
· California requests oral argument to present evidence on issues which emerged for the first time in the report
1960 August 17-19 - Master grants three days for oral argument in New York City
1960 December 5 - Master’s report submitted to the Court
· Master’s report is 433 pages
1961 January - Supreme Court permits all parties to submit exceptions to Master’s report (about 2200 pages filed)
· May 22, 1961 - Supporting briefs submitted
· August 14, 1961 - Answering briefs submitted
· October 2, 1961 - Reply briefs submitted
Oral arguments ran four court days, or sixteen hours (a record length). The sixteen hours were apportioned as follows:
· California 5 ½ hours
· Arizona 5 ½ hours
· United States 3 hours
· Nevada 1 ½ hours
· Utah 15 minutes
Attorney General Stanley Mosk presented opening argument for California; California’s case argued by Northcutt Ely, California’s special counsel
1963 June 3 - Court decision: 5-3 in favor of Arizona, with two dissenting opinions.
1964 March 9 - Majority opinion implemented by a decree, 376 U.S. 340 (1964)
Timeline of California Water Law History, 1848 - 1963
1848 - United States acquires the Southwest from Mexico but imposes no system of uniform water law. States are left to settle their own disputes
1850 - California legislature establishes doctrine of riparian rights (Calif. Stats. (April 13, 1850), p. 219)
· Owner of land next to stream has right to full flow in either quantity or quality
· Use not necessary to create right
· Non-use did not terminate the right
1851 - Gold rush in California leads to doctrine of appropriation (Calif. Stats. (April 29, 1851), p. 149)
· Principle of first in time, first in right
· Severed water rights from land ownership, making water rights personal property which could be sold without selling the land
1866 - Federal government recognizes “rights to the use of the water” as determined by “local customs, laws, and decisions of courts” (14 Stat. 253)
1869-71 - John Wesley Powell leads survey expedition of Colorado River and Canyon Country. Concludes that only about 2% of the Southwest is suitable for agricultural (Report on the Lands of the Arid Regions of the United States)
1876 - Colorado adopts the appropriation doctrine, which becomes known as the “Colorado Doctrine” (Colorado Constitution, Art. 16, §§ 5-7 (1876))
· Priority of right goes to users in the order in which they made their appropriation
· Denies California's premise of absolute territorial sovereignty of federal government
· Appropriator acquired title from the state or territory where the appropriation occurred
1886 - California Supreme Court rules that doctrine of riparian rights is paramount in California but did not reject principle of prior appropriation (Lux v. Haggin, 69 Calif. 255 (1886))
• Because the Court denied the doctrine of riparian rights, an unqualified victory, California was saddled with a dual system of water law (riparian rights and doctrine of appropriation); this dilemma would trouble California and the Southwest for generations
1902 - Reclamation Act establishes the Reclamation Service to construct irrigation projects
1905 - 1907 - Devastating floods in the Imperial Valley of California creates a demand by residents for a publicly owned irrigation canal
1907 - President Theodore Roosevelt urges Congress to create a development plan for irrigable land along the Colorado River (Cong. Rec. 59 Cong. 2 Sess. (1907) p. 1029)
1907 - United States Supreme Court applies principle of “equitable apportionment” in an interstate water dispute (Kansas v. Colorado, 206 U.S. 46 (1907)). At issue: waters of the Arkansas River vital to irrigation in Kansas and Colorado
1911 - Imperial Irrigation District formed led by Attorney John M. Eshelman
· Demand a publicly owned water delivery system located in U.S. (older Alamo Canal ran through Mexico and was subject to Mexican law)
· Growing agricultural in the Mexican delta region put more strain on the Alamo Canal
1914 - Arthur Powell Davis, nephew of John Wesley Powell, appointed director of Reclamation Service. Envisions a comprehensive program of river development largely carrying forward the desires of his uncle.
1917 - League of the Southwest, a group of prominent business and political leaders of the Southwest, hold first meeting at Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego
· Recognized water reclamation as necessary for the prosperity of the Southwest
· Resolved to promote cooperation among the basin states and the federal government
· Recognize need for greater uniformity in the codification of water laws
1918 - All-American Canal Board appointed to make survey for new canal
· Recommend a 60-mile canal at estimated cost of $30 million
1919 - Imperial Valley residents vote by a 5-to-2 margin to endorse a contract with the Interior Department, and to favor making Imperial Valley part of a “unified Colorado River project”
1920 - Kinkaid Act (41 Stat. 600) directs Secretary of Interior to complete a survey and investigate Imperial Valley's problems. Alliance between Reclamation Service and Imperial Valley alarms leaders throughout the Colorado Basin
1920 - Colorado attorney Delph Carpenter's proposal for an interstate compact gains unanimous support at the League of the Southwest meeting in Denver. The proposal, based on Article 6 of the U.S. Constitution which allows states to negotiate treaties between themselves if permission is granted from Congress, called for:
· Present and future rights of the states to be determined by the compact
· Seven basin states to authorize the appointment of commissioners for the purpose of entering the compact and its subsequent ratification
1921 - Bill to allow the compact and the formation of the Colorado River Commission passes (42 Stat. 171)
1921 December 8-12 - League of the Southwest meeting in Riverside, CA.
· Dispute between private and municipal interests (esp. Los Angeles), and rivalries between basin state representatives permanently cripple the League
1921 December 12 - Hearings on the construction of the Boulder Canyon Dam held in San Diego
· Proposed to place entire burden of paying for dam on power consumers
· Proposed federal government “construct, own, and perpetually control any dam”
1921 December 17 - President Harding appoints Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover as federal delegate to the Colorado River Commission
1922 - United States Supreme Court holds that the rule of priority prevails in appropriation states (Wyoming v. Colorado, 259 U.S. 470 (1922)). At issue: Colorado's plan to divert water from the Laramie River, and whether or not a state could legally divert the waters of an interstate stream
1922 - Initial meetings of the Colorado River Commission held in January
· Delegates of the upper basin states:
o Delph Carpenter “Silver Fox of the Rockies” for Colorado
o Frank C. Emerson “the Boy Commissioner” for Wyoming
o R.E. Caldwell for Utah
o Stephen B. Davis, Jr. for New Mexico
· Delegates of the lower basin states:
o Winfield S. Norviel for Arizona
o W.F. McClure for California
o James G. Scrugman for Nevada
o Herbert Hoover appointed as chairman
· Davis's recommendation for division of the waters causes disagreement between upper and lower basin states and no consensus is reached
1922 - Public hearings held March - April so delegates of the CRC could be better informed about needs and wishes of the public
· Hearings stiffen upper basin resistance and introduce other elements that divide the states further
1924 - Colorado River Compact ratified by six of the seven states
· Divides upper and lower basins at Lee's Ferry, AZ
· Full allocation for upper and lower basins 7.5 million acre-feet per year
· Lower basin allowed to increase allocation by 1 million acre-feet per year
· Upper basin required to release 75 million acre-feet each ten year period
· Arizona refuses to sign because the 7.5 million acre-feet apportioned to the lower basin included the Gila River
1928 - Herbert Hoover elected President of the United States (serves 1929 - 1933)
1929 March 4 - California passes Limitation Act (Ch. 16, 48th Session, Statutes and Amendments to the Codes, 1929 pp. 38-39) in order to appease the other basin states and have the BCPA passed
· California limits rights to 4.4 million acre-feet per year, plus not more than one-half of the surplus waters
1929 June 25 - President Hoover issues proclamation declaring the Boulder Canyon Project Act (46 Stat. 3000) effective
· Authorizes construction of the Boulder Canyon Dam and the All-American Canal
1930 - Secretary of Interior requests California to make recommendations as to allocation and priority of parties to be given water contracts
1931 - Competing interests between Los Angeles and San Diego and the region’s agricultural interests leads to the Seven Party Agreement
· Agreement allocates 3.85 million acre-feet per year to agriculture and 550,000 acre-feet to Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
1963 - Arizona v. California et al.