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I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I , I I I The Compact was signed by the Compact Commissioners of Colorado, New Mexico and Texas on March 18, 1938. After ratification by the state legislatures and consent of the U.S. Congress, it became effective in 1940. A copy of the Compact is included as Appendix B. IV.2 PURPOSES OF COMPACT The following two maj or purposes were indicated by Colorado I s original Compact Commissioner, M. C. Hinderlider (1938). 1. To "protect the present and future use of water in the various sections of the Rio Grande Basin by setting up schedules of delivery of water at the Colorado-New Mexico stateline and at San Marcial, which is at the head of the Elephant Butte Reservoir, and by fixing the average annual releases from Elephant Butte Reservoir." 2. To "permit the construction and operation of additional reservoirs above Elephant Butte Reservoir to regulate the water that is being used at the present time, and to capture and make usable, water which otherwise would spill from Elephant Butte Reservoir and be lost for beneficial use in the basin. " IV.3 SUMMARY OF MAJOR COMPACT PROVISIONS AFFECTING NEW STORAGE The following discussion is of the primary Compact provisions which affect water availability to a new storage project in Colorado. Although the Compact establishes obligations for both Colorado and New Mexico, the Compact provisions affecting Colorado are focused on for this study. The Colorado-New Mexico stateline Compact obligation is comprised of two parts, one applying to the Conejos River (a major tributary of the Rio Grande in Colorado) and the other to the Rio Grande mainstem. The separation of the state line obligation into two parts was thought to permit the fixing of responsibility for any depletion and for the proper allocation of credits resulting from new water 28