In the 1920s, Arizona State Senator Fred Colter dreamed of a canal to bring Colorado River water to central Arizona. Fast forward to 1951: Colter's dream canal had been renamed the Central Arizona Project, and the U.S. Senate had just approved its construction. But in 1953, before the project could be started, Arizona and California went to court over Colorado River water rights, and work on the Central Arizona Project was suspended yet again (Sheridan, 1995).