DEPARTMENT OF STATE Memorandum of Conversation
DATE: July 18, 1950
SUBJECT: Operation and Maintenance of Imperial Dam and of the All American Canal from Imperial Dam to and Including Pilot Knob Creek and Waste-way.
PARTICIPANTS: Department of State: The Secretary of State Mr. Jack B. Tate, Acting Legal Adviser Mr. Harold C. Herrick, Jr. MID Fr. J. N. Diven, L/ARA
Department of the Interior: The Secretary of the Interior Mr. Mastin White, Solicitor Mr. Goodrich W. Lineweaver, Director, Operation and Maintenance, Bureau of Reclamation.
The Secretary of the Interior opened the meeting by outlining his understanding of the matter. He referred to the 1932 contract between the Government and the Imperial Irrigation District; to the provisions of the Mexican Water Treaty of 1944; to Senator Connally\'s letter of February 4, 1949 to the Department of State; to the understanding by Senators Connally, Lyndon Johnson, Hayden and McFarland that a Federal agency would operate and maintain Imperial Dam and the All American Canal; and to the practices in connection with interstate projects of operation and maintenance of irrigation facilities by the Bureau of Reclamation. Mr. Chapman added that in his view the Treaty requires Government operation and maintenance of these facilities and, moreover, that operating efficiency can be had only through such operation and maintenance. Mr. Chapman then made the point that the Imperial Irrigation District has not heretofore done what was required of it under its contract, particularly in the matter of payments, and that in the circumstances it could not be expected to do so in the matter of the delivery of waters to Mexico. The Secretary of the Interior sought to make it clear that it would be impossible for the Government to retain that control over the facilities required by the Treaty for the delivery of waters through the All American Canal unless complete and absolute control of those facilities is in the hands of the Government. He was satisfied that the Government cannot exercise that control if operations and maintenance were turned over to the Imperial Irrigation District. Finally, at the suggestion of Mr. Lineweaver, Mr. Chapman referred to the Memorandum of Understanding of February 14, 1945 between the Department of State and the Department of the Interior as a recognition by this Department of the necessity for Government operation and maintenance of Imperial Dam and the All American Canal.
The Secretary of State then explained the position of this Department which is that its only interest in the matter is to see that Mexico gets the water to which it is entitled. He added that he does not believe that Mexico is interested in the question which has arisen between the two Departments so long as Mexico gets the water in the manner and at the times prescribed by the Treaty. He further stated that the domestic question of the practicability of the Imperial Irrigation District operating and maintaining the facilities was not a matter for him to determine but rather one for the Department of the Interior. Reference was then made to the discussions of January 30, 1950 with Senators Connally, Hayden and McFarland and of the opposition by the Senators to a reference of the matter to the Attorney General for an opinion. Mr. Acheson then stated that if the Secretary of the Interior was satisfied that the facilities could be operated only by a Federal agency, he could not object thereto so long as that agency complied fully with the Treaty commitments.
Mr. Chapman then referred to the correspondence which has been exchanged in the matter and said that if the Department of State would in writing inform him of its interpretation of the Treaty, and state that the Treaty requires the Government to retain control of the facilities, he would make the determination and assume the responsibility therefore that as a fact the Government would be required to operate and maintain the facilities in order to meet the international obligation imposed by the Treaty. There was some further discussion of the meaning of control and management and of the advisability of taking the matter up further with the Attorney General and with the Congress, after which it was agreed that this Department would address a letter to Mr. Chapman giving him the Department\'s interpretation of the Treaty. It was understood that the letter would be discussed with Mr. White before it was signed and that timing of action thereon would be arranged.
Comments:
In order that the records of the Department might be clear thereon, it should be pointed out that so far as the Department is aware, the Imperial Irrigation District cannot be charged with failure to make payments under the 1932 contract in as much as by the terms of Article 12 of that contract, payments thereunder by the District are not due and payable until the calendar year next succeeding the year when notice of completion of all work on the Imperial Dam and the All American Canal is given by the Department of the Interior to the District. The records of both Departments will show that the District has been endeavoring to have the Department of the Interior give the notice required and that it is that effort which raised the question which has been pending between the two Departments for more than four years.
The reference by the Secretary of the Interior to the Memorandum of Understanding of February 14, 1945 indicates that there is some misunderstanding concerning the exact meaning of this memorandum. It has always been this Department\'s understanding that the memorandum of agreement did nothing more than to specify the functions which would be performed by the two Departments in the event of a determination that Government performance of the function is required. The Department of the Interior apparently interprets the memorandum as being such a determination.
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