786 
 

 
 BANCROFT LIBRARY 
 
sllMIMIME 
 
 | 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE 
 
 ON THE 
 
 Colorado River 
 Compact 
 
 AND 
 
 Certified Copy of the 
 Colorado River Compact 
 
 Kif?l?^^fii?iffI?ifyI?i^^r^ 
 
Bancroft Library 
 
 MR. PRESIDENT, MR. SPEAKER, MEMBERS OF THE 
 SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
 OF THE SIXTH LEGISLATURE: 
 
 In laying before you the official copy of the compact 
 between the States of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, 
 New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and between the United States 
 of America respecting the use and distribution of the water 
 of the Colorado River and the rights of said states and the 
 United States thereto, I place in your hands the future des- 
 tiny of the State of Arizona. 
 
 In the negotiation of the compact the State of Arizona was 
 represented on the joint commission by Mr. W. S. Norviel, 
 State Water Commissioner, who was appointed to represent 
 J Arizona by Governor Thomas E. Campbell, acting under the 
 authority of chapter 46, Senate Bill 64, of the session laws 
 of 1921, which reads as follows: 
 
 
 "AN ACT 
 
 Providing for the appointment of a Representative 
 on Behalf of the State of Arizona to Negotiate a 
 Compact and Agreement Between the States of 
 Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mex- 
 ico, Utah and Wyoming, and Between Said States 
 and the United States of America Respecting the 
 Use and Distribution of the Waters of the Colo- 
 rado River and the Rights of Said States and the 
 United States Thereto, and Making an Appropria- 
 tion Therefor. 
 
 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF 
 THE STATE OF ARIZONA: 
 
 Section 1. The Governor of Arizona shall appoint the 
 State Water Commissioner, who shall serve with- 
 out additional compensation, as the representative 
 of the State of Arizona, who shall be duly author- 
 ized to represent the State of Arizona on a joint 
 Commission to be composed of a representative of 
 Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mex- 
 ico, Utah and Wyoming, and a duly authorized rep- 
 resentative of the United States of America, such 
 Commission to be constituted for the purpose of 
 negotiating and entering into a compact or agree- 
 
 F'7 
 
merit between the said Spates, and between said 
 States and the United States, with the consent of 
 Congress, respecing the further utilization and dis- 
 position of the waters of the Colorado River and 
 the streams tributary thereto, and fixing and de- 
 termining the rights of the said States and the 
 rights of the United States in and to the us-e and 
 disposition of the waters of said stream and the 
 benefits to be derived therefrom, provided, how- 
 ever, that any compact or agreement so entered 
 into by said States and the United States shall not 
 be binding or obligatory upon any of the high con- 
 tracting parties thereto unless and until the same 
 shall have been ratified and approved by the Legis*- 
 lature of the said States and by the Congress of the 
 United States. 
 
 Section 2. The Governor of Arizona shall no- 
 tify the respective Governors of the States of Cali- 
 fornia, Colorado, Nevad,a, New Mexico, Utah and 
 Wyoming, of the appointment of the representative 
 of Arizona as soon as said representative shall 
 have been appointed and qualified, but said repre- 
 senative shall not enter upon the performance of 
 his duties until a representative to serve upon said 
 ^"+ Commission shall have been named and quali- 
 fied for each of the said States named in Section 1 
 hereof, provided however, that said represetnative 
 shall proceed immediately after the passage of 
 this Act and its approval by the Governor, in carry- 
 ing out the provisions of Section 3 hereof as per- 
 tains to the Colorado River within the boundaries 
 of the State of Arizona, and that the securing of 
 the necessary data and information called for by 
 this Act shall not be contingent upon appointment 
 and qualification of the representatives of the other 
 States concerned or the representative of the 
 United States of America. 
 
 Section 3. Said representative of the State of 
 Arizona shall have full authority to make or cause 
 to be made any and all investigations of the Colo- 
 rado River and the drainage area thereof, which 
 may become necessary in order to sufficiently ad- 
 vise said representative of the physical conditions 
 obtaining upon said stream and the drainage area 
 thereof, and of the present and future needs of the 
 State of Arizona and its citizens in the use and 
 
benefit of the waters of said stream. To that end, 
 said representative shall have authority to adminis- 
 ter oaths, examine and require the attendance of 
 witnesses, and to perform such other duties and 
 gather such data as may be necessary to suffi- 
 ciently apprise said representative of the facts and 
 furnish him w r ith adequate information in order 
 that he may properly perform his duties as repre- 
 sentative of the State of Arizona upon said joint 
 Commission. 
 
 Section 4. For the purpose of carrying out 
 the provisions of this Act, including the payment 
 of an equitable portion of the cost and expenses of 
 said joint Commission, there is hereby appropriated 
 out of any moneys in the State Treasury, not other- 
 wise appropriated, the sum of Twenty-five Thou- 
 sand Dollars (25,000.00) or so much thereof as 
 may be necessary, for the purposes- herein pro- 
 vided. Said appropriation may be used within or 
 without the State of Arizona. The said representa- 
 tive shall employ such clerical and technical assist- 
 ants as may be deemed necessary to accomplish the 
 objects of this Act. The compensation of the nec- 
 essary assistants, together with all traveling ex- 
 penses, and all other costs, charges and necessary 
 expenditures hereunder, shall be paid semimonthly 
 upon vouchers approved by the State Water Com- 
 missioner and warrants drawn for the payment 
 thereof by the State Auditor in the ordinary man- 
 ner upon the State Treasurer. 
 
 Section 5. The State Legislature finds, deter- 
 mines and hereby declares that this Act and each 
 and every sentence, phrase and clause thereof is 
 necessary for the i mmediate preservation of the 
 public peace, health and safety of the State, and 
 that an emergency is hereby declared to exist and 
 this Act shall be in full force and effect from and 
 after its passage and approval by the Governor, 
 and shall be exempt from the operation of the 
 referendum provisions of the State Constitution of 
 the State of Arizona. 
 
 Section 6. All Acts or parts of Acts in con- 
 flict with the provisions of this Act are hereby re- 
 pealed. 
 
 Approved March 5th, 1921." 
 
Under the provisions of the foregoing law the duties of 
 the Governor are solely ministreail and the compact, if it is 
 to become effective, must be approved by the Legislature. 
 
 It is doubtful if any other question will ever arise in 
 Arizona which will mean more to the people and have a 
 greater influence on the development of the State than your 
 action on this proposed compact. 
 
 As a citizene of Arizona, and as Governor of the State, 
 I adjure you to study its provisions carefully. Your deci- 
 sion concerning this measure will be scrutinized and studied 
 by the present generation of our people and by posterity. 
 
 The deplorable lack of adequate and reliable informa- 
 tion in connection with the potential acreage in Arizona 
 which might be irrigated from the waters of the Colorado 
 River adds to your difficulty in determining the wisest and 
 best course for Arizona to adopt in connection with the pro- 
 posed pact. 
 
 A survey is now being made on the Colorado River 
 under the direction of the United States Geological Survey. 
 In a letter under date of January 15th, Mr. Larue informed 
 me that his report would not be ready for publication before 
 July 1st of this year. 
 
 "The importance of this question, and the fact that the 
 future development of this State largely depends upon the 
 application of the water and power of the Colorado River, 
 suggests the necessity of the Legislature taking such time 
 as may be necessary to secure accurate and adequate infor- 
 mation to enable you, as the representatives of the people 
 of Arizona, to act wisely upon this most important subject. 
 
 I desire to repeat what I said in my message to the 
 Legislature that "this subject is bigger than political par- 
 ties; it is bigger than statesmen; it is bigger than any man 
 or the ambitions of any man; it is a question of what is the 
 best thing to do for Arizona and the States of the Colorado 
 Basin, for America, and for the peace of the world." 
 
 It is my desire to be helpful to you as the representative 
 of the people of Arizona in determining the best course for 
 the State in this matter. Such information as I have been 
 able to assemble in the short period of time at my command 
 is available for your use, and such facilities as the Gover- 
 nor's office may possess for securing additional data will 
 be placed at your disposal. 
 
 If you find that the limited information, data and sta- 
 tistics available for your use is insufficient to justify the 
 
State of Arizona entering into this compact at present, I 
 recommend that you make suitable provisions to secure the 
 data necessary for the information of the people of Arizona 
 in order that the interest of our State may be conserved. 
 
 Accompanying this message I herewith place in your 
 hands a certified copy of the Colorado River Compact for 
 such action as you may deem prudent. Bancroft Library 
 
STATE OF ARIZONA 
 OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) 
 
 )ss. 
 STATE OF ARIZONA, ) 
 
 I, JAMES H. KERBY, Secretary of State, do hereby certify that 
 the within is a true correct and complete transcrpit of the "Colorado 
 River Compact," signed November 24th, 1922, at the City of Santa 
 Fe, New Mexico, and filed in this office on the 26th day of December, 
 1922, all of which is shown by the official copy on file in this De- 
 partment. 
 
 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and 
 affixed the Great Seal of Arizona Done at Phoenix, the Capital, this 
 19th day of January, A. D. 1923. 
 
 (SEAL) JAMES H. KERBY 
 
 Secretary of State. 
 
 No. G037 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 
 
 (SEAL) 
 DEPARTMENT OF STATE 
 
 TO ALL WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, GREETING: 
 
 I CERTIFY That the document hereunto annexed is a true copy 
 from the original in the archives of this Department. 
 
 (Colorado River Compact signed November 24th, 1922, at the 
 City of Santa Fe, New Mexico.) 
 
 IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I, Charles E. Hughes Secretary 
 of State, have hereunto caused the Seal of the Department of State 
 to be affixed and my name subscribed by the Chief Clerk of the said 
 Department, in the District of Columbia, this 15th day of December, 
 1922. 
 
 (Signed) Charles E. Hughes 
 
 Secretary of State. 
 
 (SEAL) (Signed) By Ben G. Davis 
 
 Chief Clerk. 
 
Colorado River Compact 
 
 The States of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, 
 Utah and Wyoming, having resolved to enter into a compact under 
 the Act of the Congress of the United States of America approved August 
 19, 1921 (42 Statutes at Large, Page 171) and the Acts of the Legis- 
 latures of the said States, have through their Governors appointed as 
 their Commissioners: 
 
 W, S. Norviel for the State of Arizona 
 
 W. F. McClure for the State of California 
 
 Delph E. Carpenter for the State of Colorado 
 
 J. G. Scrugham for the State of Nevada 
 
 Stephen B. Davis, Jr for the State of New Mexico 
 R. E. Caldwell for the State of Utah 
 Frank C. Emerson for the State of Wyoming 
 
 who, after negotiations participated in by Herbert Hoover appointed 
 by The President as the representative of the United States of 
 America, have agreed upon the following articles: 
 
 ARTICLE I 
 
 The major purposes of this compact are to provide for the equit- 
 able division and' apportionment of the use of the waters of the Colo- 
 rado River System; to establish the relative importance of different 
 beneficial uses of water; to promote interstate comity; to remove 
 causes of present and future controversies; and to secure the ex- 
 peditious agricultural and industrial development of the Colorado 
 River Basin, the storage of its water and the protection of life and 
 property from floods. To these ends the Colorado River Basin is 
 divided into two Basins, and an apportionment of the use of part of 
 the water of the Colorado River System is made to each of them with 
 the provision that further equitable apportionments may be made. 
 
 ARTICLE II 
 
 As used in this compact: 
 
 (a) The term "Colorado River System" means that portion of 
 the Colorado River and its tributaries within the United States of 
 America. 
 
 (b) The term "Colorado River Basin" means all of the drainage 
 area of the Colorado River System and all other territory within the 
 United States of America to which the waters, of the Colorado River 
 System shall be beneficially applied. 
 
 (c) The term "States of the Upper Division" means the States 
 of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. 
 
 (d) The term "States of the Lower Division" means the States 
 of Arizona, California and Nevada. 
 
 (e) The term "Lee Ferry" means a point in the main stream 
 of the Colorado River one mile below the mouth of the Paria River. 
 
 (f) The term "Upper Basin" 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 drain- 
 age area of the Colorado River System which -are now or shall here- 
 after be beneficially served by waters diverted from the System above 
 Lee Ferry. 
 
 (g) The term "Lower Basin" means those parts of the States of 
 Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah within and from 
 which waters naturally drain into the Colorado River System below 
 Lee Ferry, and also all parts of said States located without the drain- 
 age area of the Colorado River System which are now or shall here- 
 after be beneficially served by waters diverted from the System be- 
 low Lee Ferry. 
 
 (h) The term "domestic use" shall include the use of water for 
 household, stock, municipal, mining, milling, industrial and other like 
 purposes, but shall exclude the generation of electrical power. 
 
 ARTICLE III 
 
 (a) There is hereby apportioned from the Colorado River Sys- 
 tem in perpetuity to the Upper Basin and the Lower Basin respectively 
 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. 
 
 (b) In addition to the apportionment in paragraph (a), the 
 Lower Basin is hereby given the right to increase its beneficial con- 
 sumptive use of such waters by one million acre feet per annum. 
 
 (c) If, as a matter of international comity, the United States 
 of America shall hereafter recognize in the United States of Mexico 
 any right to the use of any waters of the Colorado River System, 
 such waters shall be supplied first from the waters which are surplus 
 over and above the aggregate of the quantities specified in paragraphs 
 (a) and (b) ; and if such surplus shall prove insufficient for this 
 purpose, then, the burden of such deficiency shall be equally borne by 
 the Upper Basin and the Lower Basin, and whenever necessary the 
 States of the Upper Division shall deliver at Lee Ferry water to 
 supply one-half of the deficiency so recognized in addition to that pro- 
 vided in paragraph (d). 
 
 (d) The States of the Upper Division will not cause the flow 
 of the river at Lee Ferry to be depleted below an aggregate of 75,- 
 000,00'0 acre feet for any period of ten consecutive years reckoned in 
 continuing progressive series beginning with the first day of October 
 next succeeding the ratification of this compact. 
 
 (e) The States of the Upper Division shall not withhold water, 
 and the States of the Lower Division shall not require the delivery of 
 water, which cannot reasonably be applied to domestic and agricul- 
 tural uses; 
 
 (f) Further equitable apportionment of the beneficial uses of 
 the waters of the Colorado River System unapportioned by para- 
 graphs (a), (b) and (c) may be made in the manner provided in 
 paragraph (g) at any time after October first, 1963, if and when 
 either Basin shall have reached its total beneficial consumptive use 
 as set out in paragraphs (a) and (b). 
 
 (g) In the event of a desire for a further apportionment as pro- 
 vided in paragraph (f) any two signatory States, acting through their 
 
Governors, may give joint notice of such desire to the Governors of 
 the other signatory States and to the President of the United States 
 of America, and it shall be the duty of the Governors of the signa- 
 tory States and of The President of the United States of America 
 forthwith to appoint representatives, whose duty it shall be to divide 
 and apportion equitably between the Upper Basin and Lower Basin 
 the beneficial use of the unapportioned water of the Colorado River 
 System as mentioned in paragraph (f) subject to the legislative rati- 
 fication of the signatory States and the Congress of the United States 
 of America. 
 
 ARTICLE IV 
 
 (a) Inasmuch as the Colorado River has ceased to be navigable 
 for commerce and the reservation of its waters for navigation would 
 seriously limit the development of its Basin, the use of its waters for 
 purposes of navigation shall be subservient to the uses of such water 
 for domestic, agricultural and power purposes. If the Congress shall 
 not consent to this paragraph, the other provisions of this compact 
 shall nevertheless remain binding. 
 
 (b) Subject to the provisions of this compact, water of the Colo- 
 rado River System may be impounded and used for the generation of 
 electrical power, but such impounding and use shall be subservient to 
 the use and consumption of such water for agricultural and domestic 
 purposes and shall not interfere with or prevent use for such domi- 
 nant purposes. 
 
 (c) The provisions of this article shall not apply to or interfere 
 with the regulation and control by any State within its boundaries 
 of the appropriation, use and distribution of water. 
 
 ARTICLE V 
 
 The chief official of each signatory State charged with the ad- 
 ministration of water rights, together with the Director of the United 
 States Reclamation Service and the Director of the United States 
 Geological Survey shall cooperate, ex-officio: 
 
 (a) To promote the systematic determination and co-ordination 
 of the facts as to flow, appropriation, consumption and use of water 
 in the Colorado River Basin, and the interchange of available infor- 
 mation in such matters. 
 
 (b) To secure the ascertainment and publication of the annual 
 flow of the Colorado River at Lee Ferry. 
 
 (c) To perform such other duties as may be assigned by mutual 
 consent of the signatories from time to time. 
 
 ARTICLE VI 
 
 Should any claim or controversy arise between any two or more 
 of the signatory States: (a) with respect to the waters of the Colo- 
 rado River System not covered by the terms of this compact; (b) over 
 the meaning or performance of any of the terms of this compact; 
 (c) as to the allocation of the burdens incident to the performance 
 of any article of this compact of the delivery of waters as herein pro- 
 vided; (d) as to the construction or operation of works within the 
 Colorado River Basin to be situated in two or more States, or to be 
 
cnstructed in one State for the benefit of another State; or (e) as to 
 the diversion of water in one State for the benefit of another State; 
 the Governors of the States affected, upon the request of one of them 
 shall forthwith appoint Commissioners with power to consider and 
 adjust such claim or controversy, subject to ratification by the 
 Legislatures of the States so affected. 
 
 Nothing herein contained shall prevent the adjustment of any 
 such claim or controversy by any present method or by direct future 
 legislative action of the interested States. 
 
 ARTICLE VII 
 
 Nothing in this compact shall be construed as affecting the obli- 
 gations of the United States of America to Indian tribes. 
 
 ARTICLE VIII 
 
 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 haye been provided on the 
 main Colorado River within or for the benefit of the Lower Basin, 
 then claims of such rights, if any, by appropriators or users of water 
 in the Lower Basin against appropriators or users of water in th$ 
 Upper Basin^ shall attach to and be satisfied from water that may be 
 stored not in conflict with Article III. 
 
 All other rights to beneficial use of waters of the Colorado River 
 System shall be satisfied solely from the water apportioned to that 
 Basin in which they are situate. 
 
 ARTICLE IX 
 
 Nothing in this compact shall be construed to limit or prevent 
 any State from instituting or maintaining any action or proceeding, 
 legal or equitable, for the protection of any right under this compact 
 or the enforcement of any of its provisions. 
 
 ARTICLE X 
 
 This compact may be terminated at any time by the unanimous 
 agreement of the signatory States. In the event of such termination 
 all rights established under it shall continue unimpaired. 
 
 ARTICLE XI 
 
 This compact shall become binding and obligatory when it shall 
 have been approved by the Legislatures of each of the signatory States 
 and by the Congress of the United States. Notice of approval by the 
 Legislatures shall be given by the Governor of each signatory State, 
 to the Governors of the other signatory States and to the President 
 of the United States, and the President of the United States is re- 
 quested to give notice to the Governors of the signatory States of ap- 
 proval by the Congress of the United States. 
 
 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, The Commissioners have signed this 
 compact in a single original, which shall be deposited in the archives 
 of the Department of State of the United States of America and of 
 which a duly certified copy shall be forwarded to the Governor of 
 each of the signatory States. 
 

 DONE at the City of Santa Fe, New Mexico, this twenty-fourth 
 day of November, A. D. One Thousand Nine Hundred and Twenty-two. 
 
 (Signed) W. S. Norviel 
 
 (Signed) W. F. McClure 
 
 (Signed) Delph E. Carpenter 
 
 (Signed) J. G. Scrugham 
 
 (Signed) Stephen B. Davis, Jr. 
 
 (Signed) R. E. Caldwell 
 
 (Signed) Frank C. Emerson 
 
 APPROVED: 
 
 (Signed) Herbert Hoover. 
 
Mockton, uaiii. 
 
 PAT. JAN 21, 1908