Colorado Code § 37-62-101

Upper Colorado River compact
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The general assembly hereby ratifies the
compact among the states of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, and Arizona, designated
as the "Upper Colorado river basin compact" and signed in the city of Santa Fe, state of New
Mexico, on the 11th day of October, A. D. 1948, by 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, Charles A. Carson, commissioner for the state of Arizona, and approved by Harry W.
Bashore, representative of the United States of America. Said compact is 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 states 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 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 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 states 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:
(1) To the state of Arizona the consumptive use of 50,000 acre-feet of water per annum.
(2) 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 to the total quantity of consumptive use per annum appropriated 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 Colorado51.75 per cent,
State of New Mexico11.25 per cent,
State of Utah23.00 per cent,
State of Wyoming14.00 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:
(1) The apportionment is of any and all man-made depletions;
(2) Beneficial use is the basis, the measure and the limit of the right to use;
(3) No state shall exceed the 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 the water year; provided, that this subparagraph (b)(3) shall not be
construed as:
(i) Altering the apportionment of use, or obligations to make deliveries as provided in
article XI, XII, XIII or XIV of this compact;
(ii) Purporting to apportion among the signatory states 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;
or
(iii) Countenancing average uses by any signatory state in excess of its apportionment.
(4) The apportionment to each state includes all water necessary for the supply of any
rights which now exist.
(c) No apportionment is hereby made, or intended to be made of such use 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 or 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 the 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 a result of the storage of water in reservoirs
constructed after the signing of this compact shall be charged as follows:
(1) 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 proportion,
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.
(2) 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 be 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 powers 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 disbursements 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
commission 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:
(1) Adopt rules and regulations;
(2) Locate, establish, construct, abandon, operate and maintain water gauging stations;
(3) Make estimates to forecast water run-off on the Colorado river and any of its
tributaries;
(4) Engage in co-operative studies of water supplies of the Colorado river and its
tributaries;
(5) 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;
(6) 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;
(7) Make findings as to the quantity of water deliveries at Lee ferry during each water
year;
(8) Make findings as to the necessity for and the extent of the curtailment of use,
required, if any, pursuant to article IV hereof;
(9) Make findings as to the quantity of reservoir losses and as to the share thereof
chargeable under article V hereof to each of the states;
(10) 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;
(11) 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;
(12) 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 co-
operation with any state or federal agency;
(13) 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 of 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.
(1) 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 above 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.
(2) 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.
(1) 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.
(2) 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 users 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 per cent to
the state of Wyoming and fifty per cent 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. If 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 expenses of such special water commissioner shall be
paid, thirty per cent by the state of Utah and seventy per cent 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
gauging 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
gauging 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 gauging station to
determine the total flow at the Maybell gauging 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:
(1) All uses of water made in either state at the time of the signing of this compact; and
(2) 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
provision 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, but 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 XVI
The failure of any state to use the water, or any part thereof, 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 interest 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 water;
(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 an 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. Carlson,
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.

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