Wyoming State Water Plan
Wyoming State Water Plan
Wyoming Water Development Office
6920 Yellowtail Rd
Cheyenne, WY 82002
Phone: 307-777-7626
Wyoming Water Development Office
6920 Yellowtail Rd
Cheyenne, WY 82002
Phone: 307-777-7626
Signatory States: South Dakota and WyomingRivers Controlled: Belle Fourche River and its tributaries arising in Wyoming.
Ratifications: Wyo. Stat. 941-488 (1957) [Act of March 3, 1943, Wyo. Sess. Laws p. 153) S.D. Comp. Laws 946-30-1 (1967) [Act of March 4, 1943, Sess. Laws p. 281]
Summary: This Compact recognizes all existing rights in Wyoming, as of the date of the Compact. It permits Wyoming unlimited use for stock water reservoirs not exceeding 20 acre-feet in capacity, and it allows Wyoming to deplete the unappropriated flow under the conditions existing as of the date of the compact by an additional 10%.
The States of South Dakota and Wyoming, parties signatory to this compact (hereinafter referred to as South Dakota and Wyoming, respectively, or individually as a State, or collectively as the States), have resolved to conclude a compact as authorized under the Act of Congress of February 26, 1927, Chapter 216, 44 Stat. 1247, and, after negotiations participated in by the following named State Commissioners.
For South Dakota:
M. Q. SHARPE G. W. MORSMAN S. G. MORTIMER W. D. BUCHHOLZFor Wyoming:
L. C. BISHOP SAMUEL McKEAN L. H. ROBINSON Mrs. E. E. McKEANand by Howard R. Stinson, appointed as the Representative of the United States of America, have agreed upon the following articles, to-wit:
ARTICLE I
B. The physical and other conditions peculiar to the Basin constitute the
basis for this compact; and none of the States hereby, nor the
Congress of the United States by its consent, concedes that this compact
establishes any general principle or precedent with respect to any other
interstate stream.
C. Either State and all others using, claiming or in any manner asserting any
right to the use of the waters of the Belle Fourche River under
the authority of that State, shall be subject to the terms of this compact.
ARTICLE II
A. The term "Belle Fourche River" shall mean and include the Belle Fourche
River and all its tributaries originating in Wyoming.
B. The term "Basin" shall mean that area in South Dakota and Wyoming which is
naturally drained by the Belle Fourche River, and all its tributaries.
C. The term "beneficial use" is herein defined to be that use by which the
water supply of
a drainage basin is depleted when usefully employed by the activities of man,
and includes water lost by evaporation, and other natural causes from
streams, canals, ditches, irrigated areas, and reservoirs.
D. Where the name of the State or the term "State" or "States" is used, these
shall be construed to include any person or entity of any nature
whatsoever using, claiming, or in any manner asserting any right to the use of
the waters of the Belle Fourche River under the authority of that State.
ARTICLE III
The United States Geological Survey, or whatever Federal agency may succeed to
the functions and duties of that agency, insofar as this
compact is concerned, shall collaborate with the officials of the States charged
with the administration of this compact in the execution of the duty of
such officials in the collection, correlation, and publication of information
necessary for the proper administration of this compact.
ARTICLE IV
ARTICLE V
ARTICLE VI
ARTICLE VII
B. Each claim hereafter initiated for storage or diversion of water in one
State for use in another State shall be filed in the
Office of the State Engineer of the State in which the water is to be stored or
diverted, and a duplicate copy of the application
including a map showing the character and location of the proposed facilities
and the lands to be irrigated shall be filed in the
Office of the State Engineer of the State in which the water is to be used. If
a portion or all the lands proposed to be
reclaimed are located in a State other than the one in which the water is to be
stored or diverted, then, before approval of the
application shall be granted, said application shall be checked against the
records of the appropriate office of the State in
which the water is to be used, and a notation shall be placed thereon by the
officer in charge of such
under B of this the purposes of given date within
records to the effect that the land description does not indicate a conflict
with existing water rights. All endorsements shall
be placed on both the original and duplicate copies of all such maps filed to
the end that the records in both States may be
complete and identical.
C. Appropriations may hereafter be adjudicated in the State in which the
water is stored or diverted, and where a
portion or all of the lands irrigated are in the other State, such adjudications
shall be confirmed in the latter State by the
proper authority. Each adjudication is to conform with the laws of the State
where the water is stored or diverted and shall
be recorded in the county and State where the water is used.
ARTICLE VIII
ARTICLE IX
ARTICLE X
ARTICLE XI
ARTICLE XII
ARTICLE XIII
A. To impair or affect any rights or powers of the United States, its
agencies, or instrumentalities, in and to the use of
the waters of the Belle Fourche River nor its capacity to acquire rights in and
to the use of said waters;
B. To subject any property of the United States, its agencies, or
instrumentalities to
taxation by either State or subdivision thereof, nor to create an obligation on
the part of the United States, its agencies, or instrumentalities, by reason
of the acquisition, construction or operation of any property or works of
whatsoever kind, to make any payments to any State or political subdivision
thereof, State agency, municipality, or entity whatsoever in reimbursement for
the loss of taxes;
C. To subject any property of the United States, its agencies, or
instrumentalities, to the laws of any State to an extent other than the extent
to which these laws would apply without regard to the compact.
ARTICLE XIV
A. Any beneficial uses hereafter made by the United States, or those acting
by or under its authority, within a State, of the waters allocated
by this compact, shall be within the allocations hereinabove made for use in
that State and shall be taken into account in determining the extent of
use within that State.
B. The United States, or those acting by or under its authority, in the
exercise of rights
or powers arising from whatever jurisdiction the United States has in, over
and to the waters of
the Belle Fourche River and all its tributaries, shall recognize, to the
extent consistent with
the best utilization of the waters for multiple purposes, that beneficial use of
the waters within the Basin is of paramount importance to development
of the Basin, and no exercise of such power or right thereby that would
interfere with the full beneficial use of the waters shall be made except upon
a determination, giving due consideration to the objectives of this compact and
after consultation with all interested Federal agencies and the State
officials charged with the administration of this compact, that such exercise is
in the interest of the best utilization of such waters for multiple
purpose.
C. The United States, or those acting by or under its authority, will
recognize any established use, for domestic and irrigation purposes, of
the apportioned waters which may be impaired by the exercise of Federal
jurisdiction in, over, and to such waters; provided, that such use is being
exercised beneficially, is valid under the laws of the appropriate State and in
conformity with this compact at the time of the impairment thereof, and
was validly initiated under State law prior to the initiation or authorization
of the Federal program or project which causes such impairment.
ARTICLE XV
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Commissioners have signed this compact in triplicate
original, one of which shall be filed in the archives of
the Department of State of the United States of America and shall be deemed the
authoritative original, and of which a duly certified copy shall be
forwarded to the Governor of each of the States.
Done at the City of Cheyenne in the State of Wyoming, this 18th day of February,
in the year of Our Lord, One Thousand Nine Hundred and
Forty-Three.
Commissioners for South Dakota:
M. Q. SHARPE G. W. MORSMAN S. G. MORTIMER W. D. BUCHHOLZCommissioners for Wyoming:
L. C. BISHOP SAMUEL McKEAN L. H. ROBINSON Mrs. E. E. McKEAN
I have
participated in the negotiation-of this compact and
intend to report favorably thereon to the Congress of the United States.
HOWARD R. STINSON
Representative of the United States of America
NOTES
Congressional consent to negotiations.---By the Act of February 26, 1927 (44 Stat. 1247), the Congress gave its consent to the negotiation by the States of South Dakota and Wyoming of compacts "providing for an equitable division and apportionment * * *of the water supply of the Belle Fourche" and other streams common to the two States. This consent was given "upon condition that a representative of the United States from the Department of the Interior, 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 or agreement should become effective until it had been "approved" by the legislatures of the States and by Congress.
Congressional consent to compact.---Act of February 26, 1944 (58 Stat. 94) from which the text of the compact above set out is taken.
Section 2 of this Act reads as follows:
"(1) Any beneficial uses hereafter made by the United States, or those acting by
or under its authority, within a State, of the waters allocated
by such compact, shall be within the allocations made by such compact for use in
that State and shall be taken into account in determining the extent of use within that State;
"(2) The United States, or those acting by or under its authority, in the exercise of rights or powers arising from whatever jurisdiction the United States has in, over, and to the waters of the Belle Fourche River and all its tributaries shall recognize, to the extent consistent with the best utilization of the waters for multiple purposes, that beneficial use of the waters within the Basin is of paramount importance to the development of the Basin; and no exercise of such power or right thereby that would interfere with the full beneficial use of the waters within the Basin shall be made except upon a determination, giving due consideration to the objectives of such compact and after consultation with all interested Federal agencies and the State officials charged with the administration of such compact, that such exercise is in the interest of the best utilization of such waters for multiple purposes;
"(3) The United States, or those acting by or under its authority, will recognize any established use, for domestic and irrigation purposes, of the apportioned water which may be impaired by the exercise of Federal jurisdiction in, over, and to such water; Provided, That such use is being exercised beneficially, is valid under the laws of the appropriate State and in conformity with such compact at the time of the impairment thereof and was validly initiated under State law prior to the initiation or authorization of the Federal program or project which causes such impairment.
"(b) As used in this section, the following terms: 'beneficial use,' 'Basin,' and 'apportioned water,' shall have the same meanings as those ascribed to them in the compact consented to by this Act." After approving the bill, the President issued the following statement dated February 28, 1944:
"In signing the Belle Fourche River Basin Compact bill, I find it necessary to call attention, as I did last May in the case of the Republican River Compact bill, to the restrictions imposed upon the use of water by the United States. The procedure prescribed by the bill for the exercise of the powers of the Federal Government would not be entirely satisfactory in all circumstances but the prospects in fact for the exercise of such powers in the Belle Fourche basin are not great. For streams where conditions are otherwise and there appears to be a possible need for Federal comprehensive multiple-purpose development or where opportunities for important electric power projects are present, I believe the Belle Fourche River Compact should not serve as a precedent. In such cases the compact and the legislation should more adequately reflect a recognition of the responsibilities and prerogatives of the Federal Government."
For legislative history, see H. R. 2580 and S. 1057, 78th Congress; House Report 788 (Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation) and Senate Report 683 (Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation), 78th Congress; 89 Cong. Rec. 9533-9535 (1943), 90 Cong. Rec. 1660 (1944); P. L. 236, 78th Congress. Hearings on H. R. 2580 were printed; for report of Federal representative see pp. 12-15.