BOARD01753

• Board Meeting Date: 1/22/2003
• Description: CF Section - Colorado River Basin - Update on Navajo-Gallup Project in New Mexico
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

Agenda Item 15
July 23-24, 2002 Board Meeting
Page 3 of 10

January 11,2002 memoranda to the Board, The questions have been restated for continuity and the .
substantive updated information is in bold print. These questions have been discussed with the
Attorney General's Office and our analysis to date indicates the following.

1. The Colorado River Compact states explicitly that the consumptive use of water apportioned to
the Upper Basin is for uses exclusively in the Upper Basin. Similarly, the consumptive use of
water apportioned to the Lower Basin is for exclusive use in the Lower Basin. The term "Upper
Basin" as defined in Article lIef):

"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 draina~e area of the Colorado
River Svstem which are now or shall,hereafter:be beneficiallv served by waters divertedfrom
the system above Lee Ferry, "

To illustrate, because water from the Colorado River Basin can be delivered to other parts of a
Colorado River Basin State, transmountain div~rsion projects like Colorado-Big Thompson,
Fryingpan-Arkansas, and San Juan-Chama are po~sible.. The policy question is, can those states
situated partially in both the Upper and Lower Basins (Arizona, New Mexico and Utah) use
Upper Colorado River Basin water in the Lower Colorado River Basin portion of the state? Staff
is not aware of any proj ect of this type actually in place. However, New Mexico has proposed
the Navajo-Gallup Project and Utah has discussed a pipeline from Lake Powell to the St. George
area in the Virgin River Basin. The Virgin River flows directly into Lake Mead, .

Guidance on this question is based on close reading of Articles II and Article III ofthe Colorado
River Compact. Article III(a) of the Colorado River Compact states:

. "There is hereby apportioned from the Colorado River System in perpetuity to the
Upper Basin and to the Lower Basin respectivelv 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, "

In response to past water marketing proposals, Il).ost of the Colorado River Basin states have, at
least implicitly, interpreted this provision as meaning that each Basin's apportionment is for
beneficial consumptive use exclusively within that Basin. This interpretation is buttressed by
Article VIII, which states:

"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 Colori;ldo River within or for the benefit of the
Lower Basin, then claims of such rights, if any, by appropriators or users of waters 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 Articlelll.

All other rizhts to beneficial use of waters of the Colorado River Svstem shall be .
satisfied solelv from the water apportioned to that Basin in which thev are situate. II