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UPPER COLORADO RIVER BASIN COMPACT,
1948
The State of Arizona, the State of Colorado, the State of New Mexico, the State of Utah
and the State of Wyoming, acting through their Commissioners,
Charles A. Carson for the State of Arizona
Clifford H. Stone for the State of Colorado
Fred E. Wilson for the State of New Mexico,
Edward H. Watson for the State of Utah, and
L.C. Bishop for the State of Wyoming,
after negotiations participated in by Harry W. Bashore, appointed by the President as
the representative of the United State of America, have agreed, subject to the provisions
of the Colorado River Compact, to determine the rights and obligations of each
signatory State respecting the uses and deliveries of the water of the Upper Basin of the
Colorado River, as follows:
ARTICLE I
(a) The major purposes of this Compact are to provide for the equitable
division and apportionment of the use of the waters of the Colorado River
System, the use of which was apportioned in perpetuity to the Upper Basin
by the Colorado River Compact; to establish the obligations of each State of
the Upper Division with respect to the deliveries of water required to be
made at Lee Ferry by the Colorado River Compact; to promote interstate
comity; to remove causes of present and future controversies; to secure the
expeditious agricultural and industrial development of the Upper Basin, the
storage of water and to protect life and property from floods.
(b) It is recognized that the Colorado River Compact is in full force and effect
and all of the provisions hereof are subject thereto.
ARTICLE II
As used in this Compact:
(a) The term "Colorado River System" means that portion of the Colorado
River and its tributaries within the United States of America.
(b) The term "Colorado River Basin" means all of the drainage area of the
Colorado River System and all other territory within the United States of
America to which the waters of the Colorado River System shall be
beneficially applied.
(c) The term "States of the Upper Division" means the States of Colorado,
New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
(d) The term "States of the Lower Division" means the State of Arizona,
California and Nevada.
(e) The term "Lee Ferry" means a point in the main stream of the Colorado
River one mile below the mouth of the Paria River.
(f) The term "Upper Basin" means those parts of the States of Arizona,
Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming within and from which waters
naturally drain into the Colorado River System above Lee Ferry, and also
parts of said States located without the drainage area of the Colorado River
System which are now or shall hereafter be beneficially served by waters
diverted from the Colorado River System above Lee Ferry.
(g) The term "Lower Basin" means those parts of the States of Arizona,
California, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah within and from which waters
naturally drain into the Colorado River System below Lee Ferry, and also all
parts of said States located without the drainage area of the Colorado River
System which are now or shall hereafter be beneficially served by waters
diverted from the Colorado River System below Lee Ferry.
(h) The term "Colorado River Compact" means the agreement concerning the
apportionment of the use of the waters of the Colorado River System dated
November 24, 1922, executed by Commissioners for the State of Arizona,
California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, approved
by Herbert Hoover, representative of the United States of America, and
proclaimed effective by the President of the United States of America, June
25, 1929.
(i) The term "Upper Colorado River System" means that portion of the
Colorado River System above Lee Ferry.
(j) The term "Commission" means the administrative agency created by
Article VIII of this Compact.
(k) The term "water year" means that period of twelve months ending
September 30 of each year.
(l) The term "acre-foot" means the quantity of water required to cover an acre
to the depth of one foot and is equivalent to 43,560 cubic feet.
(m) The term "domestic use" shall include the use of water for household,
stock, municipal, mining, milling, industrial and other like purposes, but
shall exclude the generation of electrical power.
(n) The term "virgin flow" means the flow of any stream undepleted by the
activities of man.
ARTICLE III
(a) Subject to the provisions and limitations contained in the Colorado River
Compact and in this Compact, there is hereby apportioned from the Upper
Colorado River System in perpetuity to the States of Arizona, Colorado, New
Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, respectively, the consumptive use of water as
follows:
- To the State of Arizona the consumptive use of 50,000 acre-feet of
water per annum.
- To the States of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming,
respectively, the consumptive use per annum of the quantities resulting
from the application of the following percentages of the total quantity of
consumptive use per annum apportioned in perpetuity to and available for
use each year by Upper Basin under the Colorado River Compact and
remaining after the deduction of the use, not to exceed 50,000 acre-feet per
annum, made in the State of Arizona.
State of Colorado, 51.75 per cent; State of New Mexico, 11.25 per cent; State of
Utah, 23.00 per cent; State of Wyoming, 14.00 per cent.
(b) The apportionment made to the respective States by paragraph (a) of this
Article is based upon, and shall be applied in conformity with, the following
principles and each of them:
- The apportionment is of any and all man-made depletions;
- Beneficial use is the basis, the measure and the limit of the right to use;
- No State shall exceed its apportioned use in any water year when the
effect of such excess use, as determined by the Commission, is to deprive
another signatory State of its apportioned use during that water year;
provided, that this subparagraph (b) (3) shall not be construed as:
- Altering the apportionment of use, or obligations to make
deliveries as provided in Articles XI, XII, XIII or XIV of this Compact:
- Purporting to apportion among the signatory States such uses of
water as the Upper Basin may be entitled to under paragraphs (f) and
(g) of Article III of the Colorado River Compact; or
- Countenancing average uses by any signatory State in excess of
its apportionment.
- The apportionment to each State includes all water necessary for the
supply of any rights which now exist.
(c) No apportionment is hereby made, of such uses of water as the Upper
Basin may be entitled to under paragraphs (f) and (g) of Article III of the
Colorado River Compact.
(d) The apportionment made by this Article shall not be taken as any basis for
the allocation among the signatory States of any benefits resulting from the
generation of power.
ARTICLE IV
In the event curtailment of use of water by the States of the Upper Division at any time
shall become necessary in order that the flow at Lee Ferry shall not be depleted below
that required by Article III of the Colorado River Compact, the extent of curtailment by
each State of the consumptive use of water apportioned to it by Article III of this
Compact shall be in such quantities and at such times as shall be determined by the
Commission upon the application of the following principles:
(a) The extent and times of curtailment shall be such as to assure full
compliance with Article III of the Colorado River Compact;
(b) If any State or States of the Upper Division, in the ten years immediately
preceding the water year in which curtailment is necessary, shall have
consumptively used more water than it was or they were, as the case may be,
entitled to use under the apportionment made by Article III of this Compact,
such State or States shall be required to supply at Lee Ferry a quantity of
water equal to its, or the aggregate of their, overdraft of the proportionate
part of such overdraft, as may be necessary to assure compliance with Article
III of the Colorado River Compact, before demand is made on any other State
of the Upper Division;
(c) Except as provided in subparagraph (b) of this Article, the extent of
curtailment by each State of the Upper Division of the consumptive use of
water apportioned to it by Article III of this Compact shall be such as to result
in the delivery at Lee Ferry of a quantity of water which bears the same
relation to the total required curtailment of use by the States of the Upper
Division as the consumptive use of Upper Colorado River System water
which was made by each such State during the water year immediately
preceding the year in which the curtailment becomes necessary bears to the
total consumptive use of such water in the States of the Upper Division
during the same water year; provided, that in determining such relation the
uses of water under rights perfected prior to November 24, 1922, shall be
excluded.
ARTICLE V
(a) All losses of water occurring from or as the result of the storage of water
in reservoirs constructed prior to the signing of this Compact shall be charged
to the State in which such reservoir or reservoirs are located. Water stored in
reservoirs covered by this paragraph (a) shall be for the exclusive use of and
shall be charged to the State in which the reservoir or reservoirs are located.
(b) All losses of water occurring from or as the result of the storage of water
in reservoirs constructed after the signing of this Compact shall be charged as
follows:
- If the Commission finds that the reservoir is used, in whole or in part, to
assist the States of the Upper Division in meeting their obligations to
deliver water at Lee Ferry imposed by Article III of the Colorado River
Compact, the Commission shall make findings, which in no event shall be
contrary to the laws of the United States of America under which any
reservoir is constructed, as to the reservoir capacity allocated for that
purpose. The whole or that portion, as the case may be, of reservoir losses
as found by the Commission to be reasonably and properly chargeable to
the reservoir or reservoir capacity utilized to assure deliveries at Lee Ferry
shall be charged to the States of the Upper Division in the proportion
which the consumptive use of water in each State of the Upper Division
during the water year in which the charge is made bears to the total
consumptive use of water in all States of the Upper Division during the
same water year. Water stored in reservoirs or in reservoir capacity
covered by this subparagraph (b) (1) shall be for the common benefit of all
of the States of the Upper Division.
- If the Commission finds that the reservoir is used, in whole or in part, to
supply water for use in a State of the Upper Division, the Commission shall
make findings, which in no event shall be contrary to the laws of the
United States of America under which any reservoir is constructed, as to
the reservoir or reservoir capacity utilized to supply water for use and the
State in which such water will be used. The whole or that proportion, as
the case may be, of reservoir losses as found by the Commission to be
reasonably and properly chargeable to the State in which such water will
be used shall be borne by that State. As determined by the Commission,
water stored in reservoirs covered by this subparagraph (b) (2) shall be
earmarked for and charged to the State in which the water will be used.
(c) In the event the Commission finds that a reservoir site is available both to
assure deliveries at Lee Ferry and to store water for consumptive use in a
State of the Upper Division, the storage of water for consumptive use shall be
given preference. Any reservoir or reservoir capacity hereafter used to assure
deliveries at Lee Ferry shall by order of the Commission be used to store
water for consumptive use in a State, provided the Commission finds that
such storage is reasonably necessary to permit such State to make the use of
the water apportioned to it by this Compact.
ARTICLE VI
The Commission shall determine the quantity of the consumptive use of water, which
use is apportioned by Article III hereof, for the Upper Basin and for each State of the
Upper Basin by the inflow-outflow method in terms of man-made depletions of the
virgin flow at Lee Ferry, unless the Commission, by unanimous action, shall adopt a
different method of determination.
ARTICLE VII
The consumptive use of water by the United States of America or any of its agencies,
instrumentalities or wards shall charged as a use by the State in which the use is made;
provided, that such consumptive use incident to the diversion, impounding, or
conveyance of water in one State for use in another shall be charged to such latter State.
ARTICLE VIII
(a) There is hereby created an interstate administrative agency to be known as
the "Upper Colorado River Commission." The Commission shall be
composed of one Commissioner, representing each of the States of the Upper
Division, namely, the States of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming,
designated or appointed in accordance with the laws of each such State and,
if designated by the President, one Commissioner representing the United
States of America. The President is hereby requested to designate a
Commissioner. If so designated the Commissioner representing the United
States of America shall be the presiding officer of the Commission and shall
be entitled to the same power and rights as the Commissioner of any State.
Any four members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum.
(b) The salaries and personal expenses of each Commissioner shall be paid by
the Government which he represents. All other expenses which are incurred
by the Commission incident to the administration of this Compact, and which
are not paid by the United States of America, shall be borne by the four States
according to the percentage of consumptive use apportioned to each. On or
before December 1 of each year, the Commission shall adopt and transmit to
the Governors of the four States and to the President a budget covering an
estimate of its expenses for the following year, and of the amount payable by
each State. Each State shall pay the amount due by it to the Commission on
or before April 1 of the year following. The payment of the expenses of the
Commission and of its employees shall not be subject to the audit and
accounting procedures of any of the four States; however, all receipts and
disbursement of funds handled by the Commission shall be audited yearly by
a qualified independent public accountant and the report of the audit shall be
included in and become a part of the annual report of the Commission.
(c) The Commission shall appoint a Secretary, who shall not be a member of
the Commission, or an employee of any signatory State or of the United States
of America while so acting. He shall serve for such term and receive such
salary and perform such duties as the Commissioner may direct. The
Commission may employ such engineering, legal, clerical and other
personnel as, in its judgment, may be necessary for the performance of its
functions under this Compact. In the hiring of employees, the Commission
shall not be bound by the civil service laws of any State.
(d) The Commission, so far as consistent with this Compact, shall have the
power to:
- Adopt rules and regulations;
- Locate, establish, construct, abandon, operate and maintain water
gaging stations;
- Make estimates to forecast water run-off on the Colorado River and
any of its tributaries;
- Engage in cooperative studies of water supplies of the Colorado River
and its tributaries;
- Collect, analyze, correlate, preserve and report on data as to the
stream flows, storage, diversions and use of the waters of the Colorado
River, and any of its tributaries;
- Make findings as to the quantity of water of the Upper Colorado
River System used each year in the Upper Colorado River Basin and in
each State thereof;
- Make findings as to the quantity of water deliveries at Lee Ferry
during each water year;
- Make findings as to the necessity for and the extent of the curtailment
of use, required, if any, pursuant to Article IV hereof;
- Make findings to the quantity of reservoir losses and as to the share
thereof chargeable under Article V hereof to each of the States;
- Make findings of fact in the event of the occurrence of extraordinary
drought or serious accident to the irrigation system in the Upper Basin,
whereby deliveries by the Upper Basin of water which it may be required
to deliver in order to aid in fulfilling obligations of the United States of
America to the United Mexican States arising under the Treaty between the
United States of America and the United Mexican States, dated February 3,
1944 (Treaty Series 994) become difficult, and report such findings to the
Governors of the Upper Basin States, the President of the United States of
America, the United States Section of the International Boundary and
Water Commission, and such other Federal officials and agencies as it may
deem appropriate to the end that the water allotted to Mexico under
Division III of such treaty may be reduced in accordance with the terms of
such Treaty;
- Acquire and hold such personal and real property as may be
necessary for the performance of its duties hereunder and to dispose of the
same when no longer required;
- Perform all functions required of it by this Compact and do all things
necessary, proper or convenient in the performance of its duties hereunder,
either independently or in cooperative with any state or federal agency;
- Make and transmit annually to the Governors of the signatory States
and the President of the United States of America, with the estimated
budget, a report covering the activities of the Commission for the
preceding water year.
(e) Except as otherwise provided in this Compact the concurrence of four
members of the Commission shall be required in any action taken by it.
(f) The Commission and its Secretary shall make available to the Governor of
each of the signatory States any information within its possession at any time,
and shall always provide free access to its records by the Governors of each of
the States, or their representatives, or authorized representatives of the
United States of America.
(g) Findings of fact made by the Commission shall not be conclusive in any
court, or before any agency or tribunal, but shall constitute prima facie
evidence of the facts found.
(h) The organization meeting the Commission shall be held within four
months from the effective date of this Compact.
ARTICLE IX
(a) No State shall deny the right of the United States of America and, subject
to the conditions hereinafter contained, no State shall deny the right of
another signatory State, any person, or entity of any signatory State to acquire
rights to the use of water, or to construct or participate in the construction and
use of diversion works and storage reservoirs with appurtenant works, canals
and conduits in one State for the purpose of diverting, conveying, storing,
regulating and releasing water to satisfy the provisions of the Colorado River
Compact relating to the obligation of the States of the Upper Division to make
deliveries of water at Lee Ferry, or for the purpose of diverting, conveying,
storing or regulating water in an upper signatory State for consumptive use
in a lower signatory State, when such use is within the apportionment to such
lower State made by this Compact. Such rights shall be subject to the rights
of water users, in a State in which such reservoir or works are located, to
receive and use water, the use of which is within the apportionment to such
State by this Compact.
(b) Any signatory State, any person or any entity of any signatory State shall
have the right to acquire such property rights as are necessary to the use of
water in conformity with this compact in any other signatory State by
donation, purchase or through the exercise of the power of eminent domain.
Any signatory State, upon the written request of the Governor of any other
signatory State, for the benefit of whose water users property is to be
acquired in the State to which such written request is made, shall proceed
expeditiously to acquire the desired property either by purchase at a price
satisfactory to the requesting State, or, if such purchase cannot be made, then
through the exercise of its power of eminent domain and shall convey such
property to the requesting State or such entity as may be designated by the
requesting State; provided, that all costs of acquisition and expenses of every
kind and nature whatsoever incurred in obtaining the requested property
shall be paid by the requesting State at the time and in the manner prescribed
by the State requested to acquire the property.
(c) Should any facility be constructed in a signatory State by and for the
benefit of another signatory State or States or the water users thereof, as
above provided, the construction, repair, replacement, maintenance and
operation of such facility shall be subject to the laws of the State in which the
facility is located, except that, in the case of a reservoir constructed in one
State for the benefit of another State or States, the water administration
officials of the State in which the facility is located shall permit the storage
and release of any water which, as determined by findings of the
Commission, falls within the apportionment of the State or States for whose
benefit the facility is constructed. In the case of a regulating reservoir for the
joint benefit of all States in making Lee Ferry deliveries, the water
administration officials of the State in which the facility is located, in
permitting the storage and release of water, shall comply with the findings
and orders of the Commission.
(d) In the event property is acquired by a signatory State in another signatory
State for the use and benefit of the former, the users of water made available
by such facilities, as a condition precedent to the use thereof, shall pay to the
political subdivisions of the State in which such works are located, each and
every year during which such rights are enjoyed for such purposes, a sum of
money equivalent to the average annual amount of taxes levied and assessed
against the land and improvements thereon during the ten years preceding
the acquisition of such land. Said payments shall be in full reimbursement
for the loss of taxes in such political subdivisions of the State, and in lieu of
any and all taxes on said property, improvements and rights. The signatory
States recommend to the President and the Congress that, in the event the
United States of America shall acquire property in one of the signatory States
for the benefit of another signatory State, or its water users, provision be
made for like payment in reimbursement of loss of taxes.
ARTICLE X
(a) The signatory States recognize La Plata River Compact entered into
between the States of Colorado and New Mexico, dated November 27, 1922,
approved by the Congress on January 29, 1925 (43 Stat. 796), and this
Compact shall not affect the apportionment therein made.
(b) All consumptive use of water of La Plata River and its tributaries shall be
charged under the apportionment of Article III hereof to the State in which
the use is made; provided, that consumptive use incident to the diversion,
impounding or conveyance of water in one State for use in the other shall be
charged to the latter State.
ARTICLE XI
Subject to the provisions of this Compact, the consumptive use of the water of the Little
Snake River and its tributaries is hereby apportioned between the States of Colorado
and Wyoming in such quantities as shall result from the application of the following
principles and procedures:
(a) Water used under rights existing prior to the signing of this Compact.
- Water diverted from any tributary of the Little Snake River or from
the main stem of the Little Snake River above a point one hundred feet
below the confluence of Savery Creek and the Little Snake River shall be
administered without regard to rights covering the diversion of water from
any down-stream points.
- Water diverted from the main stem of the Little Snake River below a
point one hundred feet below the confluence of Savery Creek and the Little
Snake River shall be administered on the basis of an interstate priority
schedule prepared by the Commission in conformity with priority dates
established by the laws of the respective States.
(b) Water used under rights initiated subsequent to the signing of this
Compact.
- Direct flow diversions shall be so administered that, in time of
shortage, the curtailment of use on each acre of land irrigated thereunder
shall be as nearly equal as may be possible in both of the States.
- The storage of water by projects located in either State, whether of
supplemental supply or of water used to irrigate land not irrigated at the
date of the signing of this Compact, shall be so administered that in times
of water shortage the curtailment of storage of water available for each acre
of land irrigated thereunder shall be as nearly equal as may be possible in
both States.
(c) Water uses under the apportionment made by this Article shall be in
accordance with the principle that beneficial use shall be the basis, measure
and limit of the right to use.
(d) The States of Colorado and Wyoming each assent to diversions and
storage of water in one State for use in the other State, subject to compliance
with Article IX of this Compact.
(e) In the event of the importation of water to the Little Snake River Basin
from any other river basin, the State making the importation shall have the
exclusive use of such imported water unless by written agreement, made by
the representatives of the States of Colorado and Wyoming on the
Commission, it is otherwise provided.
(f) Water use projects initiated after the signing of this Compact, to the
greatest extent possible, shall permit the full use within the Basin in the most
feasible manner of the waters of the Little Snake River and its tributaries,
without regard to the state line; and, so far as is practicable, shall result in an
equal division between the States of the use of water not used under rights
existing prior to the signing of this Compact.
(g) All consumptive use of the waters of the Little Snake River and its
tributaries shall be charged under the apportionment of Article III hereof to
the State in which the use is made; provided, that consumptive use incident
to the diversion, impounding or conveyance of water in one State for use in
the other shall be charged to the latter State.
ARTICLE XII
Subject to the provisions of this Compact, the consumptive use of the waters of Henry's
Fork, a tributary of Green River originating in the State of Utah and flowing into the
State of Wyoming and thence into the Green River in the State of Utah; Beaver Creek,
originating in the State of Utah and flowing into Henry's Fork in the State of Wyoming;
Burnt Fork, a tributary of Henry's Fork, originating in the State of Utah and flowing
into Henry's Fork in the State of Wyoming, Birch Creek, a tributary of Henry's Fork,
originating in the State of Utah and flowing into Henry's Fork in the State of Wyoming;
and Sheep Creek, a tributary of Green River in the State of Utah, and their tributaries
are hereby apportioned between the States of Utah and Wyoming in such quantities as
will result from the application of the following principles and procedures.
(a) Waters used under rights existing prior to the signing of this Compact.
Waters diverted from Henry's Fork, Beaver Creek, Burnt Fork, Birch Creek
and their tributaries, shall be administered without regard to the state line on
the basis of an interstate priority schedule to be prepared by the States
affected and approved by the Commission in conformity with the actual
priority of right of use, the water requirements of the land irrigated and the
acreage irrigated in connection therewith.
(b) Waters used under rights from Henry's Fork, Beaver Creek, Burnt Fork,
Birch Creek and their tributaries, initiated after the signing of this Compact
shall be divided fifty percent to the State of Wyoming and fifty percent to the
State of Utah and each State may use said waters as and where it deems
advisable.
(c) The State of Wyoming assents to the exclusive use by the State of Utah of
the water of Sheep Creek, except that the lands, if any, presently irrigated in
the State of Wyoming from the water of Sheep Creek shall be supplied with
water from Sheep Creek in order of priority and in such quantities as are in
conformity with the laws of the State of Utah.
(d) In the event of the importation of water to Henry's Fork, or any of its
tributaries, from any other river basin, the State making the importation shall
have the exclusive use of such imported water unless by written agreement
made by the representatives of the States of Utah and Wyoming on the
Commission, it is otherwise provided.
(e) All consumptive use of waters of Henry's Fork, Beaver Creek, Burnt Fork,
Birch Creek, Sheep Creek, and their tributaries shall be charged under the
apportionment of Article III hereof to the State in which the use is made;
provided, that consumptive use incident to the diversion, impounding or
conveyance of water in one State for use in the other shall be charged to the
latter State.
(f) The States of Utah and Wyoming each assent to the diversion and storage
of water in one State for use in the other State, subject to compliance with
Article IX of this Compact. It shall be the duty of the water administrative
officials of the State where the water is stored to release said stored water to
the other State upon demand. It either the State of Utah or the State of
Wyoming shall construct a reservoir in the other State for use in its own State,
the water users of the State in which said facilities are constructed may
purchase at cost a portion of the capacity of said reservoir sufficient for the
irrigation of their lands thereunder.
(g) In order to measure the flow of water diverted, each State shall cause
suitable measuring devices to be constructed, maintained and operated at or
near the point of diversion into each ditch.
(h) The State Engineers of the two States jointly shall appoint a Special Water
Commissioner who shall have authority to administer the water in both States
in accordance with the terms of this Article. The salary and expense of such
Special Water Commissioner shall be paid, thirty percent by the State of Utah
and seventy percent by the State of Wyoming.
ARTICLE XIII
Subject to the provisions of this Compact, the rights to the consumptive use of the water
of the Yampa River, a tributary entering the Green River in the State of Colorado, are
hereby apportioned between the States of Colorado and Utah in accordance with the
following principles:
(a) The State of Colorado will not cause the flow of the Yampa River at the
Maybell Gaging Station to be depleted below an aggregate of 5,000,000 acre-
feet for any period of ten consecutive years reckoned in continuing
progressive series beginning with the first day of October next succeeding the
ratification and approval of this Compact. In the event any diversion is made
from the Yampa River or from tributaries entering the Yampa River above the
Maybell Gaging Station for the benefit of any water use project in the State of
Utah, then the gross amount of all such diversions for use in the State of Utah,
less any returns from such diversions to the River above Maybell, shall be
added to the actual flow at the Maybell Gaging Station to determine the total
flow at the Maybell Gaging Station.
(b) All consumptive use of the waters of the Yampa River and its tributaries
shall be charged under the apportionment of Article III hereof to the State in
which the use is made; provided, that consumptive use incident to the
diversion, impounding or conveyance of water in one State for use in the
other shall be charged to the latter State.
ARTICLE XIV
Subject to the provisions of this Compact, the consumptive use of the waters of the San
Juan River and its tributaries is hereby apportioned between the States of Colorado and
New Mexico as follows:
The State of Colorado agrees to deliver to the State of New Mexico from the San Juan
River and its tributaries which rise in the State of Colorado a quantity of water which
shall be sufficient, together with water originating in the San Juan Basin in the State of
New Mexico, to enable the State of New Mexico to make full use of the water
apportioned to the State of New Mexico by Article III of this Compact, subject,
however, to the following:
(a) A first and prior right shall be recognized as to:
- All uses of water made in either State at the time of the signing of this
Compact, and
- All uses of water contemplated by projects authorized, at the time of
the signing of this Compact, under the laws of the United States of America
whether or not such projects are eventually constructed by the United
States of America or by some other entity.
(b) The State of Colorado assents to diversions and storage of water in the
State of Colorado for use in the State of New Mexico, subject to compliance
with Article IX of this Compact.
(c) The uses of the waters of the San Juan River and any of its tributaries
within either State which are dependent upon a common source of water and
which are not covered by (a) hereof, shall in times of water shortages be
reduced in such quantity that the resulting consumptive use in each State will
bear the same proportionate relation to the consumptive use made in each
State during times of average water supply as determined by the
Commission; provided, that any preferential uses of water to which Indians
are entitled under Article XIX shall be excluded in determining the amount of
curtailment to be made under this paragraph.
(d) The curtailment of water use by either State in order to make deliveries at
Lee Ferry as required by Article IV of this Compact shall be independent of
any and all conditions imposed by this Article and shall be made by each
State, as and when required, without regard to any provisions of this Article.
(e) All consumptive use of the waters of the San Juan River and its tributaries
shall be charged under the apportionment of Article III hereof to the State in
which the use is made; provided, that consumptive use incident to the
diversion, impounding or conveyance of water in one State for use in the
other shall be charged to the latter State.
ARTICLE XV
(a) Subject to the provisions of the Colorado River Compact and of this
Compact, water of the Upper Colorado River System may be impounded and
used for the generation of electrical power, buy such impounding and use
shall be subservient to the use and consumption of such water for agricultural
and domestic purposes and shall not interfere with or prevent use for such
dominant purposes.
(b) The provisions of this Compact shall not apply to or interfere with the
right or power of any signatory State to regulate within its boundaries the
appropriation, use and control of water, the consumptive use of which is
apportioned and available to such State by this Compact.
ARTICLE XIV
The failure of any State to use the water, or any part hereof, the use of which is
apportioned to it under the terms of this Compact, shall not constitute a relinquishment
of the right to such use to the Lower Basin or to any other State, nor shall it constitute a
forfeiture or abandonment of the right to such use.
ARTICLE XVII
The use of any water now or hereafter imported into the natural drainage basin of the
Upper Colorado River System shall not be charged to any State under the
apportionment of consumptive use made by this Compact.
ARTICLE XVIII
(a) The State of Arizona reserves its rights and interests under the Colorado
River Compact as a State of the Lower Division and as a State of the Lower
Basin.
(b) The State of New Mexico and the State of Utah reserve their respective
rights and interests under the Colorado River Compact as States of the Lower
Basin.
ARTICLE XIX
Nothing in this Compact shall be construed as:
(a) Affecting the obligations of the United States of America to Indian tribes;
(b) Affecting the obligations of the United States of America under the Treaty
with the United Mexican States (Treaty Series 994);
(c) Affecting any rights or powers of the United States of America, its
agencies or instrumentalities, in or to the waters of the Upper Colorado River
System, or its capacity to acquire rights in and to the use of said waters;
(d) Subjecting any property of the United States of America, its agencies or
instrumentalities, to taxation by any State or subdivision thereof, or creating
any obligation on the part of the United States of America, its agencies or
instrumentalities, by reason of the acquisition, construction or operation of
any property or works of whatever kind, to make any payment to any State
or political subdivision thereof, State agency, municipality or entity
whatsoever, in reimbursement for the loss of taxes;
(e) Subjecting any property of the United States of America, its agencies or
instrumentalities, to the laws of any State to any extent other than the extent
to which such laws would apply without regard to this Compact.
ARTICLE XX
This Compact may be terminated at any time by the unanimous agreement of the
signatory States. In the event of such termination, all rights established under it shall
continue unimpaired.
ARTICLE XXI
This Compact shall become binding and obligatory when it shall have been ratified by
the legislatures of each of the signatory States and approved by the Congress of the
United States of America. Notice of ratification by the legislatures of the signatory
States shall be given by the Governor of each signatory State to the Governor of each of
the other signatory States and to the President of the United States of America, and the
President is hereby requested to give notice to the Governor of each of the signatory
States of approval by the Congress of the United States of America.
In WITNESS WHEREOF, the Commissioners have executed six counterparts hereof
each of which shall be and constitute an original, one of which shall be deposited in the
archives of the Department of State of the United States of America, and one of which
shall be forwarded to the Governor of each of the signatory States.
Done at the City of Santa Fe, State of New Mexico, this 11th day of October 1948.
CHARLES A. CARSON
Commissioner for the State of Arizona
CLIFFORD H. STONE
Commissioner for the State of Colorado
FRED E. WILSON
Commissioner for the State of New Mexico
EDWARD H. WATSON
Commissioner for the State of Utah
L.C. BISHOP
Commissioner for the State of Wyoming
GROVER A. GILES
Secretary
Approved:
HARRY W. BASHORE
Representative of the United States of America
NOTES
Congressional consent to negotiations.-Section 19 of the Boulder Canyon Project Act (45
Stat. 1057, 1065), gave the Congress' consent "to the States of Arizona, California,
Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming to negotiate and enter into
compacts or agreements, supplemental to and in conformity with the Colorado River
compact and consistent with this Act for a comprehensive plan for the development of
the Colorado River and providing for the storage, diversion, and use of the waters of
said river." The consent was given "upon condition that a representative of the United
States, to be appointed by the President, shall participate in the negotiations and shall
make report to Congress of the proceedings and of any compact or agreement entered
into." It was also provided that no such compact should be effective until "approved"
by the legislatures of the States and by the Congress. See also Article VI of the
Colorado River Compact.
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