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September 30, 2012--Ruling key to Colorado water future (Denver Post)

As Colorado struggles with long-term water needs, an upcoming decision by the U.S. Supreme Court on whether to grant an appeal to a 10th Circuit ruling could vastly complicate the state's planning and future growth. The issue at stake is water allocation among states. The water of virtually all the West's major rivers, including those that flow from and through Colorado, is allocated according to interstate agreements called compacts. A total of 26 compacts have been agreed upon among states, ratified by the negotiating legislatures and enacted into federal law. Dating back in some cases to the 1920s, they have provided the essential legal infrastructure to the growth of the West since the end of World War II. The distribution of water laid out in them has always been considered legally binding — until now. Last September, in a case involving Texas and Oklahoma (Tarrant Regional Water District vs. Herrmann), the 10th Circuit reread language in the Red River Compact — an agreement between Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas — to mean that water sharing among the signatories was voluntary, not mandatory, begging the question: Why did the states negotiate the complex agreement at all?

To view the full article, visit the Denver Post. For a copy of the original article contact the WIP at (970) 247-1302 or stop by the office at 841 East Second Avenue in Durango, Colorado.


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