MEMORANDUM
February 10, 1949
Subject: Imperial Valley Control of Boundary Border
Senator Connally and Secretary Krug have spoken to me about a controversy between the Imperial Valley water district and possibly the Department of the Interior relating to the claim of the district to have control of the headgates through which water flows into the all-American canal or into the district's outlets from the canal. As I understand it, a recent letter from Mr. Lovett to Secretary Krug states the opinion that the water district could have physical control of the outlets but that legal control and supervision should rest either in the Federal Government or in the International Commission.
Both the Senator and the Secretary are of the opinion that as a practical matter such a solution is not workable and they also state that this view is contrary to personal assurances which I gave as Assistant Secretary in 1945 when the water treaty was before the Senate, and on the strength of which some of the Southwestern Senators voted for the treaty. I have some recollection but not a very clear one of this matter.
I should like to have a full memorandum with particular references to anything that I said or wrote and statements made either on my behalf or stemming from anything I said or wrote in the course of the hearings.
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