The Arizona v. California Collection at the William A. Wise Law Library contains more than 185 full-text, searchable pleadings, briefs, orders, transcripts, and reports from the historic, 12-year original proceeding in the U.S. Supreme Court filed by the State of Arizona against the State of California, which sought to clarify rights to the use of Colorado River basin water. The case culminated in a June 3, 1963 decision, reported in Arizona v. California , 373 U.S. 546 , which was implemented by a March 9, 1964 decree, reported in Arizona v. California , 376 U.S. 340 .
The Wise Law Library’s Arizona v. California Collection was acquired in part through the efforts of former University of Colorado Law Library Director, J. Myron Jacobstein, a legend in the field of legal research pedagogy. The Collection features many key filings by Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, and the United States, as well as the 1960 draft and final reports of Special Master Simon H. Rifkind and copies of the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion and decree . The Collection also includes Special Master Elbert P. Tuttle’s 1982 report in the reopened Arizona v. California case decided in 1983; this report is a gift of the David H. Getches family.