Louis Brandeis

“ Arizona refused to ratify the Colorado River Compact, and the authority conferred upon Arizona, Nevada, and California by the Boulder Canyon Project Act to enter into an agreement for apportioning the waters has not been acted on. But California bound itself, by the act of its Legislature, March 16, 1929, to the limitation of 4,400,000 acre-feet, plus one-half of the surplus; Arizona claims that the limitation on California's use must have been enacted for the benefit solely of Arizona, since georgraphically she alone could use waters in the lower basin which California may not use ”

“ The effect of article III (b) (at least in the event that the lower basin puts the 8,500,000 acre-feet of water to beneficial uses) is to preclude any claim by the upper basin that any part of the 7,500,000 acre-feet released at Lee Ferry to the lower basin may be considered as 'surplus' because of Arizona waters which are available to the lower basin alone. Congress apparently expected that a complete apportionment of the waters among the states of the lower basin would be made by the subcompact which it authorized Arizona, California, and Nevada to make. ”

“ It has often been said that, when the meaning of a treaty is not clear, recourse may be had to the negotiations, preparatory works, and diplomatic correspondence of the contracting parties to establish its meaning. ”