53 STAT.]
76TH CONG. , 1 ST SESS.-CH. 155 -MAY 31, 1939
[CHAPTER 155]
AN ACT
May 31, 1939
Giving the consent and approval of Congress to the Rio Grande compact signed
[H. R. 4997]
at Santa Fe, New Mexico, on March 18, 1938.
[Public, No. 96]
Be it enacted by the Senate anul House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, That the consent
Rio Grande com-
and approval of Congress is hereby given to the compact signed by Consent of Conress
the commissioners for the States of Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas granted to.
at Santa Fe, New Mexico, on March 18, 1938, and thereafter approved
by the legislatures of the States of Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas,
which compact reads as follows:
RIO GRANDE COMPACT
Text.
The State of Colorado, the State of New Mexico, and the State
of Texas, desiring to remove all causes of present and future contro-
versy among these States and between citizens of one of these States
and citizens of another State with respect to the use of the waters of
the Rio Grande above Fort Quitman, Texas, and being moved by
considerations of interstate comity, and for the purpose of effecting
an equitable apportionment of such waters, have resolved to conclude
a Compact for the attainment of these purposes, and to that end,
through their respective Governors, have named as their respective
Commissioners:
For the State of Colorado-M. C . Hinderlider
For the State of New Mexico-Thomas M. McClure
For the State of Texas-Frank B. Clayton
who, after negotiations participated in by S. O . Harper, appointed
by the President as the representative of the United States of
America, have agreed upon the following articles, to-wit:
ARTICLE I.
(a) The State of Colorado, the State of New Mexico, the State of
Texas, and the United States of America, are hereinafter designated
"Colorado," "New Mexico," "Texas," and the "United States,"
respectively.
(b) "The Commission" means the agency created by this Compact
for the administration thereof.
(c) The term "Rio Grande Basin" means all of the territory
drained by the Rio Grande and its tributaries in Colorado, in New
Mexico, and in Texas above Fort Quitman, including the Closed
Basin in Colorado.
(d) The "Closed Basin" means that part of the Rio Grande Basin
in Colorado where the streams drain into the San Luis Lakes and
adjacent territory, and do not normally contribute to the flow of the
Rio Grande.
(e) The term "tributary" means any stream which naturally con-
tributes to the flow of the Rio Grande.
(f) "Transmountain Diversion" is water imported into the drain-
age basin of the Rio Grande from any stream system outside of the
Rio Grande Basin, exclusive of the Closed Basin.
(g) "Annual Debits" are the amounts by which actual deliveries
in any calendar year fall below scheduled deliveries.
(h) "Annual Credits" are the amounts by which actual deliveries
in any calendar year exceed scheduled deliveries.
(i) "Accrued Debits" are the amounts by which the sum of all
annual debits exceeds the sum of all annual credits over any common
period of time.
785
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