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O~1255 ARKANSAS RIVER COMPACT such a background of controversy and litigation reflects the broad-mindedness and statesmanship of the participating commissioners. Their accomplishment Is all the more significant in view of the fact that other western river compacts have dealt generally with relatively undeveloped streams whereas extensive development and excessive appropriation of water, with their attendant prob- lems, already exist on the Arkansas River. SECTION 4. LOCALITY AND WA'l'F:nH INVOLVED The waters involved In the proposed compact stem from a watershed of ap~ proxhnatelJ' 25,000 square miles which is naturally drained by the Arkansas River and its tributaries west of the Colorado-Kansas State line. A general lllftp of the locality is appended to this report. Lands presently under irrigation in the Arkansas River Basin cover ap~ prOXimately 825,000 acres in southeastern Colorad(} and approximately 65,000 acres in western Kansas. Their annual crop production is currently valued at about $12,500,000 and $8,000,000, respectively. Natural stream flow in the headwaters of the Arkansas River is augmented by water imported, through tl;ansmountain _ diversions across the Continental DivIde from the Colorado RIver system, These importations, which have been in operation sInce before 1908 and have been averagIng approximately 48,000 acre-feet in recent years, have been developed by private water users. The up- stream usage of these imported waters Is such that they do not contribute measurably to the waters of the Arl<ansas River, avel'aging around 800,000 aQre-feet annually, to be governed by the proposed compact. Therefore, the apportionment proposed under the compact doeR not concern itself with these importations and deals only with native Arkansas River water; _ i. e., water whIch has its source within the Arkansas River waters,hed' as distinguished from foreign water, i. e., water which has its source in and is imported by diversion from n watershed other than the AI'kansas, viz, the Colorado River system. Colorado's importatIons of water from the Colorado to the Arkansas River system ma;y be Increased materIally above historic quantities if and when plans for the multiple-purpose GUllnison.Arkansas transmountain diversion project, which are now being drafted by the Bureau- of Reclamation, reach fruition, Under the restrictions of the Colorado RIver compact (to which Colorado is, but Kansas is not, a signatory) such diversIons .from the Colol'ado River Basin must be put to use within the confines of the State ,of Colorado and are,-not available for exportation to Kansas. Accordingly, as in the case of historic importations, the proposed compact does not concern itself with any prospective importations inasmuch as they would likewise be foreign waters in which the State of Kansas would have no legitimate interest. For the salce 'of Clarity the term "waters of the Arlransas River" as used in the proposed compact (and as presumably used in the act approved April 19, 1945) is defined in article III B. SECTION 15. JOHN MARTIN RESJffiVOIR PROJECT The most important structure affecting the formulation and future adminis- tration of the proposed compact is the .John Martin Reservoir project (whiCh was orig.inally designated as the Cnddoa ReservoIr project and is sometimes stillreferrea to by that name). This pr.oject, located on the main stem of the Arkansas River near Caddoa, Colo., about 58 river miles upstream from the Colorado~Kansas State line, was authorized for construction by the Corps of Engineers in the Flood Control Act of June 22, 1936, "to provide for flood control and water conservation in Colorado and Kansas." Potential usefulness of the project toward facUltating a settlement of the long-standing interstate con- troversy was also a congressional consideration. Subsequent enactments pro- vided that the costs and responsibility for con~truction, operation, and main- tenance be borne entirely by the United States without charge to the ben~ficiariE~s. Construction of the John Martin Reservoir project was initiated in 1989, sus- pel1ded during the war years, and subStantially completed in 1948. 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