A.R.S. tit. 45 ch. 7 — Arizona Revised Statutes Title 45 Chapter 7 — Interstate Streams

45-1301. Ratification of Lake Mead contract There is hereby unconditionally ratified, approved and confirmed, that certain contract for the storage and delivery of water from Lake Mead executed on behalf of the United States by the honorable Harold L. Ickes, secretary of the interior, and on behalf of the state of Arizona by its Colorado River commission, bearing date the 9th day of February, 1944, as follows: UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Bureau of Reclamation BOULDER CANYON PROJECT Arizona-California-Nevada CONTRACT FOR DELIVERY OF WATER This contract made this 9th day of February, 1944, pursuant to the Act of Congress approved June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388), and acts amendatory thereof or supplemental thereto, all of which acts are commonly known and referred to as the Reclamation Law, and particularly pursuant to the Act of Congress approved December 21, 1928 (45 Stat. 1057), designated the Boulder Canyon project act, and acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto, between the United States of America, hereinafter referred to as "United States," acting for this purpose by Harold L. Ickes, secretary of the interior, hereinafter referred to as the "secretary," and the state of Arizona, hereinafter referred to as "Arizona," acting for this purpose by the Colorado River commission of Arizona, pursuant to chapter 46 of the 1939 session laws of Arizona, WITNESSETH THAT: EXPLANATORY RECITALS 2. WHEREAS, for the purpose of controlling floods, improving navigation, regulating the flow of the Colorado River, providing for storage and for the delivery of stored waters for the reclamation of public lands and other beneficial uses exclusively within the United States, the Secretary acting under and in pursuance of the provisions of the Colorado River Compact and Boulder Canyon Project Act, and acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto, has constructed and is now operating and maintaining in the main stream of the Colorado River at Black Canyon that certain structure known as and designated Boulder Dam and incidental works, creating thereby a reservoir designated Lake Mead of a capacity of about thirty-two million (32,000,000) acre-feet, and 3. WHEREAS, said Boulder Canyon Project Act provides that the Secretary under such general rules and regulations, as he may prescribe, may contract for the storage of water in the reservoir created by Boulder Dam, and for the delivery of such water at such points on the river as may be agreed upon, for irrigation and domestic uses, and provides further that no person shall have or be entitled to have the use for any purpose of the water stored, as aforesaid, except by contract made as stated in said Act, and 4. WHEREAS, it is the desire of the parties to this contract to contract for the storage of water and the delivery thereof for irrigation of lands and domestic uses within Arizona, and 5. WHEREAS, nothing in this contract shall be construed as affecting the obligations of the United States to Indian tribes, 6. NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual covenants herein contained, the parties hereto agree as follows, to wit: DELIVERY OF WATER 7. (a) Subject to the availability thereof for use in Arizona under the provisions of the Colorado River Compact and the Boulder Canyon Project Act, the United States shall deliver and Arizona, or agencies or water users therein, will accept under this contract each calendar year from storage in Lake Mead, at a point or points of diversion on the Colorado River approved by the Secretary, so much water as may be necessary for the beneficial consumptive use for irrigation and domestic uses in Arizona of a maximum of 2,800,000 acre-feet. (b) The United States also shall deliver from storage in Lake Mead for use in Arizona, at a point or points of diversion on the Colorado River approved by the Secretary, for the uses set forth in subdivision (a) of this Article, one-half of any excess or surplus waters unapportioned by the Colorado River Compact to the extent such water is available for use in Arizona under said compact and said act, less such excess or surplus water unapportioned by said compact as may be used in Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah in accordance with the rights of said states as stated in subdivisions (f) and (g) of this Article. (c) This contract is subject to the condition that Boulder Dam and Lake Mead shall be used: First, for river regulation, improvement of navigation, and flood control; second, for irrigation and domestic uses and satisfaction of perfected rights in pursuance of Article VIII of the Colorado River Compact; and third, for power. This contract is made upon the express condition and with the express covenant that the United States and Arizona, and agencies and water users therein, shall observe and be subject to and controlled by said Colorado River Compact and the Boulder Canyon Project Act in the construction, management, and operation of Boulder Dam, Lake Mead, canals and other works, and the storage, diversion, delivery and use of water for the generation of power, irrigation and other uses. (d) The obligation to deliver water at or below Boulder Dam shall be diminished to the extent that consumptive uses now or hereafter existing in Arizona above Lake Mead diminish the flow into Lake Mead, and such obligation shall be subject to such reduction on account of evaporation, reservoir and river losses, as may be required to render this contract in conformity with said compact and said act. (e) This contract is for permanent service, subject to the conditions stated in subdivision (c) of this Article, but as to the one-half of the waters of the Colorado River system unapportioned by paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of Article III of the Colorado River Compact, such water is subject to further equitable apportionment at any time after October 1, 1963, as provided in Article III (f) and Article III (g) of the Colorado River Compact. (f) Arizona recognizes the right of the United States and the State of Nevada to contract for the delivery from storage in Lake Mead for annual beneficial consumptive use within Nevada for agricultural and domestic uses of 300,000 acre-feet of the water apportioned to the Lower Basin by the Colorado River Compact, and in addition thereto to make contract for like use of 1/25 (one twenty-fifth) of any excess or surplus waters available in the Lower Basin and unapportioned by the Colorado River Compact, which waters are subject to further equitable apportionment after October 1, 1963 as provided in Article III (f) and Article III (g) of the Colorado River Compact. (g) Arizona recognizes the rights of New Mexico and Utah to equitable shares of the water apportioned by the Colorado River Compact to the Lower Basin and also water unapportioned by such compact, and nothing contained in this contract shall prejudice such rights. (h) Arizona recognizes the right of the United States and agencies of the State of California to contract for storage and delivery of water from Lake Mead for beneficial consumptive use in California, provided that the aggregate of all such deliveries and uses in California from the Colorado River shall not exceed the limitation of such uses in that State required by the provisions of the Boulder Canyon Project Act and agreed to by the State of California by an act of its Legislature (Chapter 16, Statutes of California of 1929) upon which limitation the State of Arizona expressly relies. (i) Nothing in this contract shall preclude the parties hereto from contracting for storage and delivery above Lake Mead of water herein contracted for, when and if authorized by law. (j) As far as reasonable diligence will permit, the water provided for in this contract shall be delivered as ordered and as reasonably required for domestic and irrigation uses within Arizona. The United States reserves the right to discontinue or temporarily reduce the amount of water to be delivered, for the purpose of investigation and inspection, maintenance, repairs, replacements or installation of equipment or machinery at Boulder Dam, or other dams heretofore or hereafter to be constructed, but so far as feasible will give reasonable notice in advance of such temporary discontinuance or reduction. (k) The United States, its officers, agents and employees shall not be liable for damages when for any reason whatsoever suspensions or reductions in the delivery of water occur. (l) Deliveries of water hereunder shall be made for use within Arizona to such individuals, irrigation districts, corporations or political subdivisions therein of Arizona as may contract therefor with the Secretary, and as may qualify under the Reclamation Law or other federal statutes or to lands of the United States within Arizona. All consumptive uses of water by users in Arizona, of water diverted from Lake Mead or from the main stream of the Colorado River below Boulder Dam, whether made under this contract or not, shall be deemed, when made, a discharge pro tanto of the obligation of this contract. Present perfected rights to the beneficial use of waters of the Colorado River system are unimpaired by this contract. (m) Rights-of-way across public lands necessary or convenient for canals to facilitate the full utilization in Arizona of the water herein agreed to be delivered will be granted by the Secretary subject to applicable federal statutes. POINTS OF DIVERSION: MEASUREMENTS OF WATER 8. The water to be delivered under this contract shall be measured at the points of diversion, or elsewhere as the Secretary may designate (with suitable adjustment for losses between said points of diversion and measurement), by measuring and controlling devices or automatic gauges approved by the secretary, which devices, however, shall be furnished, installed, and maintained by Arizona, or the users of water therein in a manner satisfactory to the Secretary; said measuring and controlling devices or automatic gauges shall be subject to the inspection of the United States, whose authorized representatives may at all times have access to them, and any deficiencies found shall be promptly corrected by the users thereof. The United States shall be under obligation to deliver water only at diversion points where measuring and controlling devices or automatic gauges are maintained, in accordance with this contract, but in the event diversions are made at points where such devices are not maintained, the secretary shall estimate the quantity of such diversions and his determination thereof shall be final. CHARGES FOR STORAGE AND DELIVERY OF WATER 9. No charge shall be made for the storage or delivery of water at diversion points as herein provided necessary to supply present perfected rights in Arizona. A charge of 50¢ per acre-foot shall be made for all water actually diverted directly from Lake Mead during the Boulder Dam cost repayment period, which said charge shall be paid by the users of such water, subject to reduction by the Secretary in the amount of the charge if it is concluded by him at any time during said cost-repayment period that such charge is too high. After expiration of the cost-repayment period, charges shall be on such basis as may hereafter be prescribed by Congress. Charges for the storage or delivery of water diverted at a point or points below Boulder Dam, for users, other than those specified above, shall be as agreed upon between the Secretary and such users at the time of execution of contracts therefor, and shall be paid by such users; provided such charges shall, in no event, exceed 25 per acre-foot. RESERVATIONS 10. Neither Article 7, nor any other provision of this contract, shall impair the right of Arizona and other states and the users of water therein to maintain, prosecute or defend any action respecting, and is without prejudice to, any of the respective contentions of said states and water users as to (1) the intent, effect, meaning and interpretation of said compact and said act; (2) what part, if any, of the water used or contracted for by any of them falls within Article III (a) of the Colorado River Compact; (3) what part, if any, is within Article III (b) thereof; (4) what part, if any, is excess or surplus waters unapportioned by said Compact; and (5) what limitations on use, rights of use and relative priorities exist as to the waters of the Colorado River system; provided, however, that by these reservations there is no intent to disturb the apportionment made by Article III (a) of the Colorado River Compact between the Upper Basin and the Lower Basin. DISPUTES AND DISAGREEMENTS 11. Whenever a controversy arises out of this contract, and if the parties hereto then agree to submit the matter to arbitration, Arizona shall name one arbitrator and the Secretary shall name one arbitrator and the two arbitrators thus chosen shall meet within ten days after their selection and shall elect one other arbitrator within fifteen days after their first meeting, but in the event of their failure to name the third arbitrator within thirty days after their first meeting, such arbitrator not so selected shall be named by the Senior Judge of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. The decision of any two of the three arbitrators thus chosen shall be a valid and binding award. RULES AND REGULATIONS 12. The Secretary may prescribe and enforce rules and regulations governing the delivery and diversion of waters hereunder, but such rules and regulations shall be promulgated, modified, revised or extended from time to time only after notice to the State of Arizona and opportunity is given to it to be heard. Arizona agrees for itself, its agencies and water users that in the operation and maintenance of the works for diversion and use of the water to be delivered hereunder, all such rules and regulations will be fully adhered to. AGREEMENT SUBJECT TO COLORADO RIVER COMPACT 13. This contract is made upon the express condition and with the express covenant that all rights of Arizona, its agencies and water users, to waters of the Colorado River and its tributaries, and the use of the same, shall be subject to and controlled by the Colorado River Compact signed at Santa Fe, New Mexico, November 24, 1922, pursuant to the Act of Congress approved August 19, 1921 (42 Stat. 171), as approved by the Boulder Canyon Project Act. EFFECTIVE DATE OF CONTRACT 14. This contract shall be of no effect unless it is unconditionally ratified by an Act of the Legislature of Arizona, within three years from the date hereof, and further, unless within three years from the date hereof the Colorado River Compact is unconditionally ratified by Arizona. When both ratifications are effective, this contract shall be effective. INTEREST IN CONTRACT NOT TRANSFERABLE 15. No interest in or under this contract, except as provided by Article 7(l), shall be transferable by either party without the written consent of the other. APPROPRIATION CLAUSE 16. The performance of this contract by the United States is contingent upon Congress making the necessary appropriations for expenditures for the completion and the operation and maintenance of any dams, power plants or other works necessary to the carrying out of this contract, or upon the necessary allotments being made therefor by any authorized federal agency. No liability shall accrue against the United States, its officers, agents or employees by reason of the failure of Congress to make any such appropriations or of any federal agency to make such allotments. MEMBER OF CONGRESS CLAUSE 17. No Member of or Delegate to Congress or Resident Commissioner shall be admitted to any share or part of this contract or to any benefit that may arise herefrom, but this restriction shall not be construed to extend to this contract if made with a corporation or company for its general benefit. DEFINITIONS 18. Wherever terms used herein are defined in Article II of the Colorado River Compact or in Section 12 of the Boulder Canyon Project Act, such definitions shall apply in construing this contract. 19. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this contract to be executed the day and year first above written. THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA By (s) Harold L. Ickes Secretary of the Interior STATE OF ARIZONA, acting by and through its COLORADO RIVER COMMISSION By (s) Henry S. Wright, Chairman By (s) Nellie T. Bush, Secretary Approved this 11th day of Feb., 1944 (s) Sidney P. Osborn Governor of the State of Arizona 45-1311. Ratification The Colorado River compact executed at Santa Fe, New Mexico, November 24, 1922, by representatives of the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming is unconditionally ratified, approved and confirmed. Text of Colorado River Compact The States of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, having resolved to enter into a compact under the Act of the Congress of the United States of America approved August 19, 1921 (42 Statutes at Large, Page 171) and the Acts of the Legislatures of the said States, have through their Governors appointed as their Commissioners: W. S. Norviel for the State of Arizona W. F. McClure for the State of California Delph E. Carpenter for the State of Colorado J. G. Scrugham for the State of Nevada Stephen B. Davis, Jr. for the State of New Mexico R. E. Caldwell for the State of Utah Frank C. Emerson for the State of Wyoming who, after negotiations participated in by Herbert Hoover appointed by The President as the representative of the United States of America, have agreed upon the following articles: ARTICLE I 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; to establish the relative importance of different beneficial uses of water; to promote interstate comity; to remove causes of present and future controversies; and to secure the expeditious agricultural and industrial development of the Colorado River Basin, the storage of its waters and the protection of life and property from floods. To these ends the Colorado River Basin is divided into two Basins, and an apportionment of the use of part of the water of the Colorado River System is made to each of them with the provision that further equitable apportionments may be made. 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 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 System below Lee Ferry. (h) 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. ARTICLE III (a) There is hereby apportioned from the Colorado River System in perpetuity to the Upper Basin and to the Lower Basin respectively the exclusive beneficial consumptive use of 7,500,000 acre feet of water per annum, which shall include all water necessary for the supply of any rights which may now exist. (b) In addition to the apportionment in paragraph (a), the Lower Basin is hereby given the right to increase its beneficial consumptive use of such waters by one million acre feet per annum. (c) If, as a matter of international comity, the United States of America shall hereafter recognize in the United States of Mexico any right to the use of any waters of the Colorado River System, such waters shall be supplied first from the waters which are surplus over and above the aggregate of the quantities specified in paragraphs (a) and (b); and if such surplus shall prove insufficient for this purpose, then, the burden of such deficiency shall be equally borne by the Upper Basin and the Lower Basin, and whenever necessary the States of the Upper Division shall deliver at Lee Ferry water to supply one-half of the deficiency so recognized in addition to that provided in paragraph (d). (d) The States of the Upper Division will not cause the flow of the river at Lee Ferry to be depleted below an aggregate of 75,000,000 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 of this compact. (e) The States of the Upper Division shall not withhold water, and the States of the Lower Division shall not require the delivery of water, which cannot reasonably be applied to domestic and agricultural uses. (f) Further equitable apportionment of the beneficial uses of the waters of the Colorado River System unapportioned by paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) may be made in the manner provided in paragraph (g) at any time after October first, 1963, if and when either Basin shall have reached its total beneficial consumptive use as set out in paragraphs (a) and (b). (g) In the event of a desire for a further apportionment as provided in paragraph (f) any two signatory States, acting through their Governors, may give joint notice of such desire to the Governors of the other signatory States and to The President of the United States of America, and it shall be the duty of the Governors of the signatory States and of The President of the United States of America forthwith to appoint representatives, whose duty it shall be to divide and apportion equitably between the Upper Basin and Lower Basin the beneficial use of the unapportioned water of the Colorado River System as mentioned in paragraph (f), subject to the legislative ratification of the signatory States and the Congress of the United States of America. ARTICLE IV (a) Inasmuch as the Colorado River has ceased to be navigable for commerce and the reservation of its waters for navigation would seriously limit the development of its Basin, the use of its waters for purposes of navigation shall be subservient to the uses of such waters for domestic, agricultural and power purposes. If the Congress shall not consent to this paragraph, the other provisions of this compact shall nevertheless remain binding. (b) Subject to the provisions of this compact, water of the 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. (c) The provisions of this article shall not apply to or interfere with the regulation and control by any State within its boundaries of the appropriation, use and distribution of water. ARTICLE V The chief official of each signatory State charged with the administration of water rights, together with the Director of the United States Reclamation Service and the Director of the United States Geological Survey shall cooperate, ex officio: (a) To promote the systematic determination and co-ordination of the facts as to flow, appropriation, consumption and use of water in the Colorado River Basin, and the interchange of available information in such matters. (b) To secure the ascertainment and publication of the annual flow of the Colorado River at Lee Ferry. (c) To perform such other duties as may be assigned by mutual consent of the signatories from time to time. ARTICLE VI Should any claim or controversy arise between any two or more of the signatory States: (a) with respect to the waters of the Colorado River System not covered by the terms of this compact; (b) over the meaning or performance of any of the terms of this compact; (c) as to the allocation of the burdens incident to the performance of any article of this compact or the delivery of waters as herein provided; (d) as to the construction or operation of works within the Colorado River Basin to be situated in two or more States, or to be constructed in one State for the benefit of another State; or (e) as to the diversion of water in one State for the benefit of another State; the Governors of the States affected, upon the request of one of them, shall forthwith appoint Commissioners with power to consider and adjust such claim or controversy, subject to ratification by the Legislatures of the States so affected. Nothing herein contained shall prevent the adjustment of any such claim or controversy by any present method or by direct future legislative action of the interested States. ARTICLE VII Nothing in this compact shall be construed as affecting the obligations of the United States of America to Indian tribes. ARTICLE VIII Present perfected rights to the beneficial use of waters of the Colorado River System are unimpaired by this compact. Whenever storage capacity of 5,000,000 acre feet shall have been provided on the main Colorado River within or for the benefit of the Lower Basin, then claims of such rights, if any, by appropriators or users of water in the Lower Basin against appropriators or users of water in the Upper Basin shall attach to and be satisfied from water that may be stored not in conflict with Article III. All other rights to beneficial use of waters of the Colorado River System shall be satisfied solely from the water apportioned to that Basin in which they are situate. ARTICLE IX Nothing in this compact shall be construed to limit or prevent any State from instituting or maintaining any action or proceeding, legal or equitable, for the protection of any right under this compact or the enforcement of any of its provisions. ARTICLE X 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 XI This compact shall become binding and obligatory when it shall have been approved by the Legislatures of each of the signatory States and by the Congress of the United States. Notice of approval by the Legislatures shall be given by the Governor of each signatory State to the Governors of the other signatory States and to the President of the United States, and the President of the United States is requested to give notice to the Governors of the signatory States of approval by the Congress of the United States. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Commissioners have signed this compact in a single original, which shall be deposited in the archives of the Department of State of the United States of America and of which a duly certified copy shall be forwarded to the Governor of each of the signatory States. DONE at the City of Santa Fe, New Mexico, this twenty-fourth day of November, A.D. One Thousand Nine Hundred and Twenty-two. (Signed) W. S. Norviel (Signed) W. F. McClure (Signed) Delph E. Carpenter (Signed) J. G. Scrugham (Signed) Stephen B. Davis, Jr. (Signed) R. E. Caldwell (Signed) Frank C. Emerson APPROVED: (Signed) Herbert Hoover. 45-1321. Ratification The upper Colorado River basin compact executed in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on October 11, 1948, by representatives of the States of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, is unconditionally ratified, approved and confirmed. Text of Upper Colorado River Basin Compact 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 States 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 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 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: (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 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: (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 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 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 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 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: (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 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 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 gaging [gauging] stations; (3) Make estimates to forecast water run-off on the Colorado River and any of its tributaries; (4) Engage in cooperative 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 cooperation 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 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. (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 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 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 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 [Gauging] Station to be depleted below an aggregate of 5,000,000 acre-