Delphus E. Carpenter

Who is Delphus E. Carpenter?

Delphus E. Carpenter was the Commissioner of Interstate Streams for the State of Colorado at a time when Western States' water rights were becoming a legal battleground, and became the primary driver behind the Colorado River Compact of 1922.

Carpenter was raised on an irrigated farm in northern Colorado, where water was a precious resource. In 1899 after graduation from the University of Denver Law School, he went into practice in his hometown, serving community water-related legal needs. From 1909-1913, Carpenter served as a State senator representing his home district. When the Greeley-Poudre Irrigation District constructed a tunnel to divert water from Wyoming's Laramie River, Carpenter became lead counsel in the Wyoming vs. Colorado lawsuit that resulted, twice arguing the case before the U.S. Supreme Court. As the issue of water as a State resource grew, Carpenter conceived the idea of the legal compact as an out-of-court solution to the West's water conflicts, invoking the Compact Clause of the U.S. Constitution.