home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
- STATE OF OKLAHOMA and STATE OF TEXAS v.
- NEW MEXICO
- on joint motion for entry of stipulated judgment
- and decree
- No. 109, Original. Decided December 13, 1993
-
- The joint motion for entry of stipulated judgment and
- decree, as modified, is granted.
-
- STIPULATED JUDGMENT, AS MODIFIED
- 1. New Mexico has been in violation of Article IV(b)
- of the Canadian River Compact from 1987 to date.
- 2. Pursuant to Paragraph 8 of the Decree entered in
- this case, New Mexico shall release from Ute Reservoir
- in 1993 sufficient water to result in an aggregate of not
- more than 200,000 acre-feet of conservation storage
- below Conchas Dam in New Mexico, including conserva-
- tion storage in the other reservoirs subject to the
- limitation under Article IV(b) of the Canadian River
- Compact. The release of water from Ute Reservoir will
- be coordinated with Oklahoma and Texas and will be at
- the call of Texas.
- 3. New Mexico shall also release from Ute Reservoir
- an additional 25,000 acre-feet of storage below the
- Article IV(b) limitation. New Mexico shall operate Ute
- Reservoir through the year 2002 at or below the eleva-
- tions set forth in the schedule below and in accordance
- with the provisions of Paragraph 8 of the Decree entered
- in this case. The schedule includes annual adjustments
- for sediment accumulation in Ute Reservoir and assumes
- the other reservoirs subject to the Article IV(b) limita-
- tion maintain storage at their total capacity of 6,760
- acre-feet. The schedule shall be adjusted by the parties
- to reflect additional amounts of water in conservation
- storage in any reservoir enlarged or constructed after
- 1992. Releases of water from Ute Reservoir will be
- coordinated with Oklahoma and Texas and will be at the
- call of Texas.
-
- Ute Reservoir Operating Schedule
-
- Reduced Corresponding
- Authorized Storage Reduced
- Year Elevation Amount Elevation
-
- After release in 1993 3781.58 25,000 3777.86
- 1994 3781.66 25,000 3777.95
- 1995 3781.74 25,000 3778.04
- 1996 3781.83 25,000 3778.14
- 1997 3781.91 25,000 3778.23
- 1998 3781.99 20,000 3779.08
- 1999 3782.08 15,000 3779.91
- 2000 3782.16 6,250 3781.28
- 2001 3782.24 3,125 3781.80
- Refilled in 2002 3782.32 -0- 3782.32
-
- 4. Within seventy-five (75) days after entry of judg-
- ment New Mexico shall pay as attorneys' fees $200,000
- to Texas and $200,000 to Oklahoma. The parties agree
- that such payments do not constitute and shall not be
- considered as an admission, express or implicit, that
- New Mexico has any liability to Texas or Oklahoma for
- attorneys' fees.
- 5. Oklahoma and Texas shall release New Mexico
- from all claims for equitable or legal relief, other than
- the relief embodied in the Decree of the parties, arising
- out of New Mexico's violation of the Canadian River
- Compact during the years 1987 through the date this
- Stipulated Judgment is entered.
- 6. In the event of a conflict between this Judgment
- and the Decree entered in this case, the provisions of
- the Judgment shall control.
- 7. The costs of this case shall be equally divided
- among the parties.
-
- DECREE, AS MODIFIED
- 1. Under Article IV(a) of the Canadian River Compact
- (-Compact-), New Mexico is permitted free and un-
- restricted use of the waters of the Canadian River and
- its tributaries in New Mexico above Conchas Dam, such
- use to be made above or at Conchas Dam, including di-
- versions for use on the Tucumcari Project and the Bell
- Ranch and the on-project storage of return flow or opera-
- tional waste from those two projects so long as the
- recaptured water does not include the mainstream or
- tributary flows of the Canadian River; provided that
- transfers of water rights from above Conchas Dam to
- locations below Conchas Dam shall be subject to the
- conservation storage limitation of Compact Article IV(b).
- Nothing in this paragraph shall be deemed to determine
- whether or not the place of use of water rights may be
- transferred to locations outside the Canadian River basin
- in New Mexico.
- 2. Under Compact Article IV(b), New Mexico is
- limited to storage of no more than 200,000 acre-feet of
- the waters of the Canadian River and its tributaries,
- regardless of point of origin, at any time in reservoirs in
- the Canadian River basin in New Mexico below Conchas
- Dam for any beneficial use, exclusive of water stored for
- the exempt purposes specified in Compact Article II(d)
- and on-project storage of irrigation return flows or
- operational waste on the Tucumcari Project and Bell
- Ranch as provided for in Paragraph 1 of this Decree.
- 3. Quantities of water stored primarily for flood
- protection, power generation or sediment control are not
- chargeable as conservation storage under the Compact
- even though incidental use is made of such waters for
- recreation, fish and wildlife or other beneficial uses not
- expressly mentioned in the Compact. In situations
- where storage may be for multiple purposes, including
- both conservation storage and exempt storage, nothing
- in this Decree shall preclude the Canadian River Com-
- mission ("Commission") from exempting an appropriate
- portion of such storage from chargeability as conserva-
- tion storage.
- 4. Water stored at elevations below a dam's lowest
- permanent outlet works is not chargeable as conserva-
- tion storage under the Compact unless the primary use
- of that storage is for a non-exempt purpose, or unless
- other means, such as pumps, are utilized to discharge
- such storage volumes from the reservoir. No change in
- the location of a dam's lowest permanent outlet works
- to a higher elevation shall provide the basis for a claim
- of exempt status for all water stored below the relocated
- outlet works without prior approval of the Commission,
- which shall not be unreasonably withheld. Water stored
- for non-exempt purposes behind a dam with capacity in
- excess of 100 acre-feet and with no outlet works is
- chargeable as conservation storage.
- 5. Future designation or redesignation of storage
- volumes for flood control, power production or sediment
- control purposes must receive prior Commission approval
- to be exempt from chargeability as conservation storage,
- which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld.
- 6. All water stored in Ute Reservoir above elevation
- 3725 feet is conservation storage; provided that at such
- time as the authorization and funding of the Eastern
- New Mexico Water Supply Project or other project re-
- sults in changed circumstances at Ute Reservoir, New
- Mexico may seek exemption of a reasonable portion of
- such water from the Commission under Paragraph 5 of
- this Decree and, if an exemption is denied, may petition
- the Court for appropriate relief under Paragraph 11 of
- this Decree.
- 7. In 1988 there were 63 small reservoirs in New
- Mexico with capacities of 100 acre-feet or less with a
- total capacity of about 1,000 acre-feet, which the Com-
- mission has treated as de minimis by waiving storage
- volume reporting obligations. Water stored in these
- reservoirs or in similarly sized reservoirs in the future
- is not chargeable as conservation storage, unless other-
- wise determined by the Commission.
- 8. Based on the elevation-capacity relationship of Ute
- Reservoir effective January 1, 1993, and adjustments
- pursuant to Paragraph 9 of this Decree, New Mexico
- shall make and maintain appropriate releases of water
- from Ute Reservoir or other conservation storage facili-
- ties in excess of 100 acre-feet of capacity at the maxi-
- mum rate consistent with safe operation of such reser-
- voirs so that total conservation storage in the Canadian
- River basin below Conchas Dam in New Mexico is lim-
- ited to no more than 200,000 acre-feet at any time;
- provided that operation of Ute Reservoir for the period
- 1993-2002 shall be pursuant to the schedule contained
- in the Judgment entered in this case; and provided that
- no violation of this paragraph will occur during any
- period in which the outlet works of Ute Reservoir are
- discharging water at the maximum safe discharge ca-
- pacity (currently 350 cubic feet per second) following the
- first knowledge that the 1993-2002 schedule or the Arti-
- cle IV(b) limitation after 2002 probably would be ex-
- ceeded; and provided further that Texas shall be notified
- by New Mexico prior to a release and may allow New
- Mexico to retain water in conservation storage in excess
- of the 1993-2002 schedule or the Article IV(b) limitation
- after 2002, subject to the call of Texas and subject to
- the provisions of Article V of the Compact. The outlet
- works of Ute Reservoir shall be maintained in good
- working order and shall not be modified to reduce the
- safe discharge capacity without prior approval of the
- Commission, which shall not be unreasonably withheld.
- 9. Sediment surveys of Ute Reservoir shall be con-
- ducted at least every ten years by New Mexico, unless
- such requirement is waived by the Commission. Con-
- servation storage in Ute Reservoir shall be determined
- from the most recent sediment survey and an annual
- estimate of the total additional sediment deposition in
- the reservoir using an annual average of sediment ac-
- cumulation during the period between 1963 and the
- most recently completed survey.
- 10. Nothing in this Decree is intended to affect a
- state's rights or obligations under the Compact, except
- as specifically addressed herein.
- 11. The Court retains jurisdiction of this suit for the
- purposes of any order, direction, or modification of this
- Decree, or any supplementary decree, that may at any
- time be deemed proper in relation to the subject matter
- in controversy; provided, that any party requesting the
- Court to exercise its jurisdiction under this paragraph or
- answering such request shall certify that it has at-
- tempted to negotiate in good faith with the other parties
- in an effort to resolve the dispute sought to be brought
- before the Court.
-