What was the purpose of the Colorado River Compact?

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 …

Who owns the water in Lake Mead?

How is the river water shared? Water stored in Lake Mead and Lake Powell is divvied up through legal agreements among the seven Colorado River basin states, the federal government, Mexico and others.

What was the outcome of the Upper Colorado River Basin Compact of 1948?

Upper Colorado River Basin Compact of 1948 – Created the Upper Colorado River Commission and apportioned the Upper Basin’s 7.5 maf among Colorado (51.75 percent), New Mexico (11.25 percent), Utah (23 percent), and Wyoming (14 percent); the portion of Arizona that lies within the Upper Colorado Basin was also …

What Is An acre foot quizlet?

acre-foot. The amount of water needed to cover an acre of land 1 foot deep. An acre-foot is equal to 326,000 gallons and is enough to supply eight people for one year.

How did the Colorado River Compact divide the river’s water?

How is the Colorado River Basin divided? The Colorado River Compact divided the Colorado River Basin into the Upper Basin and the Lower Basin. The division point is Lees Ferry, a point in the mainstem of the Colorado River about 30 river miles south of the Utah-Arizona boundary, just downstream of Glen Canyon Dam.

Are there skeletons at the bottom of Lake Mead?

Note, the skeletons in the photo below are not real. In late April, the surface level of Lake Mead – which was created by the iconic Hoover Dam – dropped below 1,080 feet, according to the US Bureau of Reclamation. The surface level when the reservoir is at maximum capacity is 1,221 feet.

When was the Colorado River Compact was signed?

Provisions. The agreement was approved by Congress in 1922, the same year it was signed. Colorado River Compact was signed by the delegates from the seven Colorado River Basin states: Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico were designated Upper Basin states and California, Arizona and Nevada as the Lower Basin states.

How much water does the Colorado River Compact allow?

The compact specifies that the Upper and Lower Basin would each have the rights to 7.5 million acre-feet of water per year.

What was the upper division of the Colorado River?

The compact divides the river basin into two areas, the Upper Division (comprising Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming) and the Lower Division (Nevada, Arizona and California). The compact requires the Upper Basin states not to deplete the flow of the river below 7,500,000 acre feet (9.3 km3) during any period of ten consecutive years.

When was the Colorado River specific allotments established?

Such projects included the Hoover Dam and Lake Powell. The current specific annual allotments in the Lower Basin were established in 1928 as part of the Boulder Canyon Project, while the current specific annual allotments in the Upper Basin were established by the Upper Colorado River Basin Compact of 1948.