The Colorado River Compact is a 1922 agreement that regulates water distribution among seven states in the Southwestern United States. The contract is about the area within the drainage basin of the Colorado River.

The major purposes of this compact are to provide for the equitable division and apportionment of the use of the waters of the Colorado 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 expeditious agricul...

Jun 22, 2020 · The Colorado River Compact of 1922 marked the first time in U.S. history that more than three states negotiated an agreement among themselves to apportion the waters of a stream or river.

Colorado River Compact and Upper Colorado River Compact. These compacts allow Colorado to use up to 3.85 million acre feet (MAF), provided the Upper Basin does not cause the flow at Lee Ferry, Ariz., to fall below 75 MAF, based on a 10-year running average (7.5 MAF/year). To learn more, see the Coordinated Long Range Operating Criteria. Learn ...

The Colorado River is managed and operated under numerous compacts, federal laws, court decisions and decrees, contracts, and regulatory guidelines collectively known as the "Law of the River." This collection of documents apportions the water and regulates the use and management of the Colorado River among the seven basin states and Mexico.

Mar 12, 2025 · The Colorado River Compact legally defines the sharing of water among seven Upper and Lower Basin states. The compact is now more than 100 years old. The territory of the southwestern United States has changed significantly in the past century. The compact has undergone intense negotiations in recent years with participation from the seven ...

2 days ago · The Colorado River Compact, established more than 100 years ago, divided the river's water between the upper and lower basin states. However, the compact overestimated the river's water supply ...

Apportions the waters of the Colorado River Basin. Congress authorized seven states in 1921 to negotiate the compact. Six of them ratified the compact promptly, but Arizona did not join until 1944. An amendment was adopted in 1925 to waive …

3 days ago · The Colorado River Compact, established more than 100 years ago, divided the river’s water between the upper and lower basin states. However, the compact overestimated the river’s water supply, allocating more water than what is actually available. This issue has been exacerbated by a two-decade-long drought, meaning that not only did we ...

3 days ago · The Colorado River Compact places two specific flow obligations on the Upper Division states at Lee Ferry. Article III (d) requires these states to not cause the ten-year cumulative flow to be depleted below seventy-five million acre-feet. Additionally, under Article III (c), if there is not sufficient surplus water available, then each basin ...