Summary Report - Central Arizona Project with Federal Prepayment Power Arrangements

Report: "Summary Report Central Arizona Project With Federal Prepayments Power Arrangement", February 1967, page 17In 1952 Arizona brought suit in the Supreme Court against California to establish the States' respective entitlements of water from the Colorado River. The Supreme Court Decree of March 9, 1964, among other items, provides that the first 7.5 million acre-feet of mainstream water below Lee Ferry available for release for consumptive use in the United States shall be apportioned 2.8 million to Arizona, 4.4 million to California, and 0.3 million to Nevada. The Supreme Court Decree provides that if less than 7.5 million acre-feet are available for release to the Lower Basin for consumptive use, the first call on such water shall be for satisfaction of present perfected rights and any remainder shall be apportioned "in such manner as is consistent with the Boulder Canyon Project Act." A number of the recent proposals for the Colorado River basin legislation have included a provision for what is termed herein the 4.4 priority. This provision, if enacted, would require that in years when there is insufficient mainstream water for release to satisfy annual consumptive use of 7.5 million acre-feet from the Colorado River below Lee Ferry, the available water would be apportioned according to the following priorities: (1) Present perfected rights. (2) Other users in the State of California served under existing contracts with the United States by diversion works heretofore 17Epson Perfection 4870 Photo, 400 dpi, 8 bit, 909,673 byte