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<br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />under the Rio Grande Compact. As such, they may store available water <br />in priority without suffering the constraints on storage imposed by <br />Articles VI, VII, and VIII of the Compact. Water storage is free from <br />the burden for the benefi t of Texas and New Mexi co imposed by the <br />Compact on reservoirs constructed after the Compact. The consequences <br />of this status are highly favorable, and the construction of new, <br />post-Compact storage within the Rio Grande Basin cannot obtain these <br />advantages. Therefore mai ntenance of the entire storage capacity of <br />all of Colorado's pre-Compact reservoirs provides unique and irrepla- <br />ceabl e benefits to SMRC and to the State as well. Even wi th the <br />constraints of the Rio Grande Compact, these storage rights are ade- <br />quate to fill the reservoirs during wetter years. The legal availabi- <br />lity of water for storage has been enhanced in recent years because of <br />spills from Elephant Butte Reservoir and the near completion of the <br />Closed Basin project. That supply is al so enhanced by the agreement <br />with the State Engineer for "out-of-priority" storage in aid of <br />Compact administration. <br /> <br />IV - 9 <br />