Colorado River Compact
Signed: 1922/11/24
Agreement Type: binding, sub-national, agreement
Water Resources - Colorado River
The Colorado River Compact aims to provide for equitable division of Colorado River Waters between the seven basin states. The basin states are divided into Upper Basin States: Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming; and Lower Basin States: Arizona, California and Nevada. The agreement allocates 7,500,000 acre-feet per year to both the Upper and Lower Basin states [1]. In addition, the Lower Basin states were granted to the right to increase its use by up to 1,000,000 acre-feet per year. Water allocated to Mexico is to be supplied from the surplus and in the event that the surplus is not sufficient, the Upper and Lower Basin states will equally decrease their consumption to make up the deficiency. Allocation quantities were based on 22 year record of river flows which suggested that a flow of 16,500,000 was a conservative estimate [2]. The compact states that domestic and agriculture have priority over electricity generation and that navigation is subservient to all other uses [3].
Case Studies Related to this Agreement
- Colorado River Basin Shortages and Coordinated Operations for Lake Powell and Lake Mead
- The Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery and San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation Programs
- Water Competition & Cooperation in the Las Vegas Valley
Articles linked to this Agreement
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Agreement includes riparian- Arizona (U.S.), California (U.S.), Colorado (U.S.), Nevada (U.S.), New Mexico (U.S.), Utah (U.S.), Wyoming (U.S.)
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Includes Water Resource- Colorado River
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External Links
- Colorado River Compact — Colorado River Compact text
- ^ Colorado River Compact. Retrieved from: http://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/g1000/pdfiles/crcompct.pdf
- ^ Morris, R., Devitt, D. A., Crites, Z. A. M., Borden, G., & Allen, L. N. (1997). Urbanization and Water Conservation in Las Vegas Valley, Nevada. Journal of Water Resources Planning & Management, (123), 189–195
- ^ Colorado River Compact. Retrieved from: http://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/g1000/pdfiles/crcompct.pdf
