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<br />'~.'.',' <br />'t~:i71 <br /> <br />Rio Grande Compact <br /> <br />The surface waters of the Rio Grande are apportioned among the <br />States of Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas in accordance with the Rio <br />Grande Compact. The Compact was ratified by the three State Legislatures <br />in February and March 1939. consented to by Congress, and approved by the <br />President on May 31. 1939. The terms of the Compact protect the uses of <br />water in the various sections of the Rio Grande Basin by setting up sched- <br />ules of delivery of water. Colorado's obligation to deliver water at the <br />Colorado-New Mexico State line, as set forth in the Compact, is based upon <br />the relationship between inflow and outflow of the San Luis Valley for the <br />years 1928 to 1937. inclUSive. The terms of the Rio Grande Compact Permit <br />construction and operation' of addi tionaJ. reservoirs above Elephant Butte <br />Reservoir to regulate the water and to capture and put to beneficial use <br />water 'Which otherwise would spill fran Compact project storage (Elephant <br />Butte and Caballo Reservoirs). The Compaet also recognizes the potenti- <br />ality of salvage of waters for beneficial use and provides as follows~ <br /> <br />"Article III--------In event any works are constructed after <br />1937 for the purpose of delivering water into the Rio Grande from the <br />Closed Basin, Colorado shall not be credited with the amount of such water <br />delivered, unless the proportion of sodium ions shall be less than forty- <br />five percent of the total positive ions in that water when the total <br />dissolved solids in such water exceeds three hundred fifty parts per <br />million. tI <br /> <br />Need for Water Salvage <br /> <br />The San Luis Valley has a hie:hly developed agricultural econOllly <br />'Which is dependent upon the availability of adequate irrigation water <br />supplies. Previous investigations have established the water needs of <br />the Valley, the feasibility of supplementing the existing supp~ by con- <br />struction and operation of reservoirs on the Rio Grande and the Conejos <br />River, and the continuing need for drainage of the Closed Basin lands to <br />improve the productivity of lands in the Mosca-Hooper area. They have <br />also established the need for optimum salvage of water now being nonben- <br />eficiall.y consumed in the Valley. not only to improve Colorado's status <br />under the Rio Grande Compact, but also to augment the critically short <br />water supplies available to lande and municipalities in the United States <br />and Mexico within the Rio Grande Basin above Fort Quitman, Texas. <br /> <br />Under the terms of the Rio Grande Compact, Colorado has con- <br />sistently been in a debit status since 1952. Studies show that this <br />trend first started in 1949 when Colorado enjoyed a credit status. At <br />the end of Calendar Year 1963. the total. Colorado debit was 734,400 !.~' <br />acre-:feet. The historical accrued credit and debit by Colorado are showii <br />on Figure 1. The underdeliveries at Lobatos have averaged about 58,400 <br />acre-feet per year since the beginning of' Calendar Year 1951. On the <br />basis of this debit status. Platoro Reservoir on the ConeJosRiver has <br />been inoperable for irrigation purposes since its completion in 1951 <br />and the States of New Mexico and Texas have been unwilling to concur in <br /> <br />t~. ~,-,,~ <br />~- '~;l.:'.J: <br /> <br />>> <br />