United States v. State of California

OPINION

MacBRIDE, Chief Judge.

At the turn of the century, a burgeoning nation was in the midst of Western expansion. Hampering this expansion, however, was the simple geographical fact that great areas within the Western states and territories encompassed arid and semiarid lands. By the enactment of the Reclamation Act of 1902, Title 43 U.S.C. § 371 et seq., Congress concluded that much of these arid and semiarid lands could be made habitable and fruitful by the construction of federally-funded irrigation works.

Now, 73 years, dozens of projects, and billions of dollars later, this court is…