Title 41 · WY

41-12-207(a); provided, however, that the grantees of such

Citation: Wyo. Stat. § 41-12-207

Section: 41-12-207

41-12-207(a); provided, however, that the grantees of such rights 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 assessed against the lands and improvements thereon during the ten (10) years preceding the use of such lands in reimbursement for the loss of taxes to said political subdivisions of the state.

41-12-207. Construction and use of dams; claims for storage or diversion; appropriations.

(a) Either state shall have the right, by compliance with the laws of the other state, to file applications for and receive permits to construct or participate in the construction and use of any dam, storage reservoir, or diversion works in such state for the purpose of conserving and regulating the apportioned water of the other state; provided, that such right is subject to the rights of the other state to control, regulate, and use water apportioned to it.

(b) Each claim hereafter initiated for storage or diversion of water in one (1) state for use in another state shall be filed in the office of the state engineer of the state in which the water is to be stored or diverted, and a duplicate copy of the application including a map showing the character and location of the proposed facilities and the lands to be irrigated shall be filed in the office of the state engineer of the state in which the water is to be used. If a portion or all the lands proposed to be reclaimed are located in a state other than the one (1) in which the water is to be restored or diverted, then, before approval of the application shall be granted, said application shall be checked against the records of the appropriate office of the state in which the water is to be used, and a notation shall be placed thereon by the officer in charge of such records to the effect that the land description does not indicate a conflict with existing water rights. All endorsements shall be placed on both the original and duplicate copies of all such maps filed to the end that the records in both states may be complete and identical.

(c) Appropriations may hereafter be adjudicated in the state in which the water is stored or diverted, and where a portion or all the lands irrigated are in the other state, such adjudications shall be confirmed in the latter state by the proper authority. Each adjudication is to conform with the laws of the state where the water is stored or diverted and shall be recorded in the county and state where the water is used. 41-12-208. Water for stock water use in South Dakota.

In case any reservoir is constructed in Wyoming to be used principally for irrigation of lands in South Dakota, sufficient water not to exceed ten (10) cubic feet per second shall be released at all times for stock water use.

41-12-209. Size of reservoirs.

No reservoir hereafter built solely to utilize the water allocated to Wyoming shall have a capacity in excess of one thousand (1,000) acre-feet.

41-12-210. Duration of compact.

The provisions of this compact shall remain in full force and effect until amended by action of the legislature of the states and consented to and approved by the congress of the United States in the same manner as this compact is required to be ratified to become effective.

41-12-211. Termination of compact.

This compact may be terminated at any time by unanimous consent of the states, and upon such termination, all rights then established hereunder or recognized hereby shall continue to be recognized as valid by the states notwithstanding the termination of the other provisions of the compact.

41-12-212. Rights of action preserved.

Nothing in this compact shall be construed to limit or prevent either state from instituting or maintaining any action or proceeding, legal or equitable, in any federal court or the United States supreme court for the protection of any right under this compact or the enforcement of any of its provisions.

41-12-213. Application of compact.

(a) Nothing in this compact shall be deemed:

(i) To impair or affect any rights or powers of the United States, its agencies, or instrumentalities, in and to the use of the waters of the Belle Fourche River nor its capacity to acquire rights in and to the use of said waters; (ii) To subject any property of the United States, its agencies, or instrumentalities to taxation by either state or subdivision thereof, or to create an obligation on the part of the United States, its agencies, or instrumentalities, by reason of the acquisition, construction or operation of any property or works of whatsoever kind, to make any payments to any state or political subdivision thereof, state agency, municipality, or entity whatsoever in reimbursement for the loss of taxes;

(iii) To subject any property of the United States, its agencies, or instrumentalities, to the laws of any state to an extent other than the extent to which these laws would apply without regard to the compact.

41-12-214. When compact becomes operative.

(a) This compact shall become operative when approved by the legislature of each of the states, and when consented to by the congress of the United States by legislation providing, among other things, that:

(i) Any beneficial uses hereafter made by the United States, or those acting by or under its authority, within a state, of the waters allocated by this compact, shall be within the allocations hereinabove made for use in that state and shall be taken into account in determining the extent of use within that state;

(ii) The United States, or those acting by or under its authority, in the exercise of rights or powers arising from whatever jurisdiction the United States has in, over and to the waters of the Belle Fourche River and all its tributaries, shall recognize, to the extent consistent with the best utilization of the waters for multiple purposes, that beneficial use of the waters within the basin is of paramount importance to development of the basin, and no exercise of such power or right thereby that would interfere with the full beneficial use of the waters shall be made except upon a determination, giving due consideration to the objectives of this compact and after consultation with all interested federal agencies and the state officials charged with the administration of this compact, that such exercise is in the interest of the best utilization of such waters for multiple purposes;

(iii) The United States, or those acting by or under its authority, will recognize any established use, for domestic and irrigation purposes, of the apportioned waters which may be impaired by the exercise of federal jurisdiction in, over, and to such waters; provided, that such use is being exercised beneficially, is valid under the laws of the appropriate state and in conformity with this compact at the time of the impairment thereof, and was validly initiated under state law prior to the initiation or authorization of the federal program or project which causes such impairment.

41-12-215. Severability of provisions.

Should a court of competent jurisdiction hold any part of this compact to be contrary to the constitution of any state or of the United States, all other severable provisions shall continue in full force and effect.

ARTICLE 3 - COLORADO RIVER COMPACT

41-12-301. Generally.

Ratification and approval is hereby given to the Colorado River Compact as signed at the city of Santa Fe, New Mexico, on the twenty-fourth day of November, A.D. 1922, by Frank C. Emerson the duly appointed commissioner for the state of Wyoming, under and in accordance with the authority of the act of the sixteenth Wyoming legislature approved February 22, 1921, entitled: "An act providing for the appointment of a commissioner on behalf of the state of Wyoming to negotiate a compact or agreement between the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, and between said states and the United States respecting the use and distribution of the waters of the Colorado River and tributaries, and the rights of said states, and the United States thereto", which compact was also signed by the duly authorized commissioners of the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah, and approved by the representative of the United States, which Colorado River Compact is in full as follows:

COLORADO RIVER COMPACT Signed at Santa Fe, New Mexico, November 24, 1922 _________ COLORADO RIVER COMMISSION, Herbert Hoover, chairman.

W. S. Norviel, commissioner for the state of Arizona. W. F. McClure, commissioner for the state of California. Delph E. Carpenter, commissioner for the state of Colorado. J. G. Scrugham, commissioner for the state of Nevada. Stephen B. Davis, Jr., commissioner for the state of New Mexico. R. E. Caldwell, commissioner for the state of Utah. Frank C. Emerson, commissioner for the state of Wyoming. Clarence C. Stetson, executive secretary, department of commerce, Washington, D.C.

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 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

(a) As used in this compact: (i) The term "Colorado River system" means that portion of the Colorado River and its tributaries within the United States of America;

(ii) 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;

(iii) The term "states of the upper division" means the states of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming;

(iv) The term "states of the lower division" means the states of Arizona, California and Nevada;

(v) The term "Lee Ferry" means a point in the main stream of Colorado River one mile below the mouth of the Paria River;

(vi) 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;

(vii) 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;

(viii) 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 seven million five hundred thousand (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 (1,000,000) 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 seventy-five million (75,000,000) acre-feet for any period of ten (10) 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 (2) 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

(a) 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:

(i) To promote the systematic determination and coordination 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.

(ii) To secure the ascertainment and publication of the annual flow of the Colorado River at Lee Ferry. (iii) To perform such other duties as may be assigned by mutual consent of the signatories from time to time.

Article VI

(a) Should any claim or controversy arise between any two (2) or more of the signatory states:

(i) with respect to the waters of the Colorado River system not covered by the terms of this compact;

(ii) over the meaning or performance of any of the terms of this compact;

(iii) 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;

(iv) as to the construction or operation of works within the Colorado River basin to be situated in two (2) or more states, or to be constructed in one (1) state for the benefit of another state; or

(v) as to the diversion of water in one (1) state for the benefit of another state; the governors of the states affected, upon the request of one (1) 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.

(b) 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

(a) Present perfected rights to the beneficial use of waters of the Colorado River system are unimpaired by this compact. Whenever storage capacity of five million (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.

(b) 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.

W. S. Norviel. W. F. McClure. Delph E. Carpenter. J. G. Scrugham. Stephen B. Davis, Jr. R. E. Caldwell. Frank C. Emerson. Approved: (signed) Herbert Hoover.

41-12-302. When binding; notice of ratification.

The said compact shall not be binding or obligatory upon any of the high contracting parties thereto unless and until the same shall have been ratified by the legislature of each of said states and approved by the congress of the United States, and proclamation thereof shall be made by the president of the United States upon receipt by him, from the governors of all the signatory states, of notice of ratification of such compact by the legislatures thereof. The governor of Wyoming shall give notice of the ratification and approval of said compact by the seventeenth Wyoming legislature to the governors of each of the remaining signatory states and to the president of the United States, in conformity with article XI of said compact.

ARTICLE 4 - UPPER COLORADO RIVER BASIN COMPACT

41-12-401. Generally.

That ratification and approval is hereby given to the Upper Colorado River Basin Compact as signed at the city of Santa Fe, in the state of New Mexico, on the 11th day of October, A.D. 1948, by L. C. Bishop, the state engineer of the state of Wyoming, under and in accordance with the authority of the act of the twenty-sixth Wyoming legislature approved the 24th day of February, 1941, entitled "An act relating to the appointment of interstate streams commissioner and assistant commissioners to negotiate agreements relative to interstate streams and providing for the governor of Wyoming to notify the governors of other states as to the appointment of said commissioner, detailing the authority of said commissioner", (now section 71-2601, Wyoming Compiled Statutes, 1945) which compact was also signed by the duly authorized commissioners of the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah and approved by the representative of the United States, which Upper Colorado River Basin Compact is in full as follows:

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

(a) As used in this compact:

(i) The term "Colorado River system" means that portion of the Colorado River and its tributaries within the United States of America; (ii) 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;

(iii) The term "states of the upper division" means the states of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming;

(iv) The term "states of the lower division" means the states of Arizona, California and Nevada;

(v) The term "Lee Ferry" means a point in the main stream of the Colorado River one (1) mile below the mouth of the Paria River;

(viii) 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;

(ix) The term "upper Colorado River system" means that portion of the Colorado River system above Lee Ferry;

(x) The term "commission" means the administrative agency created by article VIII of this compact; (xi) The term "water year" means that period of twelve (12) months ending September 30 of each year;

(xii) The term "acre-foot" means the quantity of water required to cover an acre to the depth of one (1) foot and is equivalent to forty-three thousand five hundred sixty (43,560) cubic feet;

(xiii) 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;

(xiv) 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:

(i) To the state of Arizona the consumptive use of fifty thousand (50,000) acre-feet of water per annum.

(ii) 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 fifty thousand (50,000) acre-feet per annum, made in the state of Arizona.

(A) State of Colorado .... fifty-one and seventy-five hundredths percent (51.75%),

(B) State of New Mexico .... eleven and twenty-five hundredths percent (11.25%),

(D) State of Wyoming .... fourteen percent (14%). (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:

(i) The apportionment is of any and all man-made depletions;

(ii) Beneficial use is the basis, the measure and the limit of the right to use;

(iii) 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)(iii) shall not be construed as:

(A) Altering the apportionment of use, or obligations to make deliveries as provided in articles XI, XII, XIII or XIV of this compact;

(B) 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

(iv) 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

(a) 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:

(i) The extent and times of curtailment shall be such as to assure full compliance with article III of the Colorado River Compact;

(ii) If any state or states of the upper division, in the ten (10) 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;

(iii) Except as provided in subparagraph (ii) 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:

(i) 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)(i) shall be for the common benefit of all of the states of the upper division.

(ii) 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)(ii) 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 (1) 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 (1) 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 (4) 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 (4) 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 (4) 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 (4) states; however, all receipt 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:

(i) Adopt rules and regulations;

(ii) Locate, establish, construct, abandon, operate and maintain water gauging stations;

(iii) Make estimates to forecast water run-off on the Colorado River and any of its tributaries;

(iv) Engage in cooperative studies of water supplies of the Colorado River and its tributaries;

(v) 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;

(vi) 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;

(vii) Make findings as to the quantity of water deliveries at Lee Ferry during each water year; (viii) Make findings as to the necessity for and the extent of the curtailment of use, required, if any, pursuant to article IV hereof;

(ix) 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;

(x) 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;

(xi) 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;

(xii) 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;

(xiii) 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 (4) 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 (1) 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 any 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 (10) 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

(a) 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:

(i) Water Used Under Rights Existing Prior to the Signing of This Compact:

(A) 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 (100) 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 downstream points.

(B) Water diverted from the main stem of the Little Snake River below a point one hundred (100) 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.

(ii) Water Used Under Rights Initiated Subsequent to the Signing of This Compact: