Memorandum of Conversation with Secretary of State Dean Acheson, Secretary of the Interior Oscar Chapman, Mastin White, Goodrich W. Mineweaver, Jack B. Tate, Harold C. Herrick, and F. M. Diven

000633 DEPARTMENT OF STATE to ARCHIVES "NATIONAL RECORDS AND 1061 Memorandum of Conversation DATE: July 18, 1950 SUBJECT: Operation and Maintenance of Imoerial Dam and of the All American Canal from Imperial Dam to and Including Pilot Knob Check and Waste- way, PARTICIPANTS: Department of State: The Secretary of State Mr. Jack B. Tate, Acting Legal Adviser Mr. Harold C. Herrick, Jr., MID Mr. F. M. Diven, L/ARA Department of the Interior: XXXXXXXXXX The Secretary of the Interior Mr. Mastin White, Solicitor Mr. Goodrich W. Lineweaver, Director, Operation and Maintenance, Bureau of Reclamation. 1-1493 The Secretary of the Interior opened the meeting by outlining his under- standing of the matter. He referred to the 1932 contract between the Govern- ment 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 that a Federal ageney would operate and maintain Imperial Dam and the All American Canal; and to the practices in connection with inter- state 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 circunstances it could not be expected to do 80 in the matter of the delivery of waters to Mexico. The Secretary of the Interior sought to make it clear that it would impossible for the Govern- ment 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 operation 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