TEXAS

Water Code

Sec. 42.010. Text of Compact.



The Pecos River Compact reads as follows:



PECOS RIVER COMPACT



Entered Into by the States of

NEW MEXICO

and

TEXAS

Sante Fe, New Mexico

December 3, 1948



PECOS RIVER COMPACT



The State of New Mexico and the State of Texas, acting through their Commissioners, John H.

Bliss for the State of New Mexico and Charles H. Miller for the State of Texas, after negotiations

participated in by Berkeley Johnson, appointed by the President as the representative of the

United States of America, have agreed respecting the uses, apportionment and deliveries of the

water of the Pecos River as follows:



Article I



The major purposes of this Compact are to provide for the equitable division and apportionment

of the use of the waters of the Pecos River; to promote interstate comity; to remove causes of

present and future controversies; to make secure and protect present development within the

states; to facilitate the construction of works for, (a) the salvage of water, (b) the more efficient

use of water, and (c) the protection of life and property from floods.



Article II



As used in this Compact:



(a) The term "Pecos River" means the tributary of the Rio Grande which rises in north-central

New Mexico and flows in a southerly direction through New Mexico and Texas and joins the Rio

Grande near the town of Langtry, Texas, and includes all tributaries of said Pecos River.



(b) The term "Pecos River Basin" means all of the contributing drainage area of the Pecos River

and its tributaries above its mouth near Langtry, Texas.



(c) "New Mexico" and "Texas" mean the State of New Mexico and the State of Texas,

respectively; "United States" means the United States of America.



(d) The term "Commission" means the agency created by this Compact for the administration

thereof.



(e) The term "deplete by man's activities" means to diminish the stream flow of the Pecos River at

any given point as the result of beneficial consumptive uses of water within the Pecos River Basin

above such point. For the purposes of this Compact it does not include the diminution of such

flow by encroachment of salt cedars or other like growth, or by deterioration of the channel of the

stream.



(f) The term "Report of the Engineering Advisory Committee" means that certain report of the

Engineering Advisory Committee dated January, 1948, and all appendices thereto; including, basic

data, processes, and analyses utilized in preparing that report, all of which were reviewed,

approved, and adopted by the Commissioners signing this Compact at a meeting held in Santa Fe,

New Mexico, on December 3, 1948, and which are included in the Minutes of that meeting.



(g) The term "1947 condition" means that situation in the Pecos River Basin as described and

defined in the Report of the Engineering Advisory Committee. In determining any question of

fact hereafter arising as to such situation, reference shall be made to, and decisions shall be based

on, such report.



(h) The term "water salvaged" means that quantity of water which may be recovered and made

available for beneficial use and which quantity of water under the 1947 condition was

non-beneficially consumed by natural processes.



(i) The term "unappropriated flood waters" means water originating in the Pecos River Basin

above Red Bluff Dam in Texas, the impoundment of which will not deplete the water usable by

the storage and diversion facilities existing in either state under the 1947 condition and which if

not impounded will flow past Girvin, Texas.



Article III



(a) Except as stated in paragraph (f) of this Article, New Mexico shall not deplete by man's

activities the flow of the Pecos River at the New Mexico-Texas state line below an amount which

will give to Texas a quantity of water equivalent to that available to Texas under the 1947

condition.



(b) Except as to the unappropriated flood waters thereof, the apportionment of which is included

in and provided for by paragraph (f) of this Article, the beneficial consumptive use of the waters

of the Delaware River is hereby apportioned to Texas, and the quantity of such beneficial

consumptive use shall be included in determining waters received under the provisions of

paragraph (a) of this Article.



(c) The beneficial consumptive use of water salvaged in New Mexico through the construction

and operation of a project or projects by the United States or by joint undertakings of Texas and

New Mexico, is hereby apportioned forty-three per cent (43%) to Texas and fifty-seven per cent

(57%) to New Mexico.



(d) Except as to water salvaged, apportioned in paragraph (c) of this Article, the beneficial

consumptive use of water which shall be non-beneficially consumed, and which is recovered, is

hereby apportioned to New Mexico but not to have the effect of diminishing the quantity of water

available to Texas under the 1947 condition.



(e) Any water salvaged in Texas is hereby apportioned to Texas.



(f) Beneficial consumptive use of unappropriated flood waters is hereby apportioned fifty per cent

(50%) to Texas and fifty per cent (50%) to New Mexico.



Article IV



(a) New Mexico and Texas shall cooperate to support legislation for the authorization and

construction of projects to eliminate nonbeneficial consumption of water.



(b) New Mexico and Texas shall cooperate with agencies of the United States to devise and

effectuate means of alleviating the salinity conditions of the Pecos River.



(c) New Mexico and Texas each may:



(i) Construct additional reservoir capacity to replace reservoir capacity made unusable by any

cause.



(ii) Construct additional reservoir capacity for the utilization of water salvaged and

unappropriated flood waters apportioned by this Compact to such state.



(iii) Construct additional reservoir capacity for the purpose of making more efficient use of water

apportioned by this Compact to such state.



(d) Neither New Mexico nor Texas will oppose the construction of any facilities permitted by this

Compact, and New Mexico and Texas will cooperate to obtain the construction of facilities that

will be of joint benefit to the two states.



(e) The Commission may determine the conditions under which Texas may store water in works

constructed in and operated by New Mexico.



(f) No reservoir shall be constructed and operated in New Mexico above Avalon Dam for the sole

benefit of Texas unless the Commission shall so determine.



(g) New Mexico and Texas each has the right to construct and operate works for the purpose of

preventing flood damage.



(h) All facilities shall be operated in such manner as to carry out the terms of this Compact.



Article V



(a) There is hereby created an interstate administrative agency to be known as the "Pecos River

Commission." The Commission shall be composed of one Commissioner representing each of the

states of New Mexico and Texas, designated or appointed in accordance with the laws of each

such state, and, if designated by the President, one Commissioner representing the United States.

The President is hereby requested to designate such a Commissioner. If so designated, the

Commissioner representing the United States shall be the presiding officer of the Commission, but

shall not have the right to vote in any of the deliberations of the Commission. All members of the

Commission must be present to constitute a quorum.



(b) The salaries and personal expenses of each Commissioner shall be paid by the government

which he represents. All other expenses which are incurred by the Commission incident to the

administration of this Compact and which are not paid by the United States shall be borne equally

by the two states. On or before November 1 of each even numbered year the Commission shall

adopt and transmit to the Governors of the two states and to the President a budget covering an

estimate of its expenses for the following two years. The payment of the expenses of the

Commission and of its employees shall not be subject to the audit and accounting procedures of

either of the two states. However, all receipts and disbursements of funds handled by the

Commission shall be audited yearly by a qualified independent public accountant and the report of

the audit shall be included in, and become a part of, the annual report of the Commission.



(c) The Commission may appoint a secretary who, while so acting, shall not be an employee of

either state. He shall serve for such term, receive such salary, and perform such duties as the

Commission may direct. The Commission may employ such engineering, legal, clerical, and other

personnel as in its judgment may be necessary for the performance of its functions under this

Compact. In the hiring of employees the Commission shall not be bound by the civil service laws

of either state.



(d) The Commission, so far as consistent with this Compact, shall have power to:



1. Adopt rules and regulations;



2. Locate, establish, construct, operate, maintain, and abandon water gaging stations,

independently or in cooperation with appropriate governmental agencies;



3. Engage in studies of water supplies of the Pecos River and its tributaries, independently or in

cooperation with appropriate governmental agencies;



4. Collect, analyze, correlate, preserve and report on data as to the stream flows, storage,

diversions, salvage, and use of the waters of the Pecos River and its tributaries, independently or

in cooperation with appropriate governmental agencies;



5. Make findings as to any change in depletion by man's activities in New Mexico, and on the

Delaware River in Texas;



6. Make findings as to the deliveries of water at the New Mexico-Texas state line;



7. Make findings as to the quantities of water salvaged and the amount thereof delivered at the

New Mexico-Texas state line;



8. Make findings as to quantities of water non-beneficially consumed in New Mexico;



9. Make findings as to quantities of unappropriated flood waters;



10. Make findings as to the quantities of reservoir losses from reservoirs constructed in New

Mexico which may be used for the benefit of both states, and as to the share thereof charged

under Article VI hereof to each of the states;



11. Acquire and hold such personal and real property as may be necessary for the performance of

its duties hereunder and to dispose of the same when no longer required;



12. Perform all functions required of it by this Compact and do all things necessary, proper or

convenient in the performance of its duties hereunder, independently or in cooperation with

appropriate governmental agencies;



13. Make and transmit annually to the Governors of the signatory states and to the President of

the United States on or before the last day of February of each year, a report covering the

activities of the Commission for the preceding year.



(e) The Commission shall make available to the Governor of each of the signatory states any

information within its possession at any time, and shall always provide free access to its records

by the Governors of each of the States, or their representatives, or authorized representatives of

the United States.



(f) Findings of fact made by the Commission shall not be conclusive in any court, or before any

agency or tribunal, but shall constitute prima facie evidence of the facts found.



(g) The organization meeting of the Commission shall be held within four months from the

effective date of this Compact.



Article VI



The following principles shall govern in regard to the apportionment made by Article III of this

Compact:



(a) The Report of the Engineering Advisory Committee, supplemented by additional data

hereafter accumulated, shall be used by the Commission in making administrative determinations.



(b) Unless otherwise determined by the Commission, depletions by man's activities, state-line

flows, quantities of water salvaged, and quantities of unappropriated flood waters shall be

determined on the basis of three-year periods reckoned in continuing progressive series beginning

with the first day of January next succeeding the ratification of this Compact.



(c) Unless and until a more feasible method is devised and adopted by the Commission the

inflow-outflow method, as described in the Report of the Engineering Advisory Committee, shall

be used to:



(i) Determine the effect on the state-line flow of any change in depletions by man's activities or

otherwise, of the waters of the Pecos River in New Mexico.



(ii) Measure at or near the Avalon Dam in New Mexico the quantities of water salvaged.



(iii) Measure at or near the state line any water released from storage for the benefit of Texas as

provided for in subparagraph (d) of this Article.



(iv) Measure the quantities of unappropriated flood waters apportioned to Texas which have not

been stored and regulated by reservoirs in New Mexico.



(v) Measure any other quantities of water required to be measured under the terms of this

Compact which are susceptible of being measured by the inflow-outflow method.



(d) If unappropriated flood waters apportioned to Texas are stored in facilities constructed in

New Mexico, the following principles shall apply:



(i) In case of spill from a reservoir constructed in and operated by New Mexico, the water stored

to the credit of Texas will be considered as the first water to spill.



(ii) In case of spill from a reservoir jointly constructed and operated, the water stored to the credit

of either state shall not be affected.



(iii) Reservoir losses shall be charged to each state in proportion to the quantity of water

belonging to that state in storage at the time the losses occur.



(iv) The water impounded to the credit of Texas shall be released by New Mexico on the demand

of Texas.



(e) Water salvaged shall be measured at or near the Avalon Dam in New Mexico and to the

quantity thereof shall be added a quantity equal to the quantity of salvaged water depleted by

man's activities above Avalon Dam. The quantity of water salvaged that is apportioned to Texas

shall be delivered by New Mexico at the New Mexico-Texas state line. The quantity of

unappropriated flood waters impounded under paragraph (d) of this Article, when released shall

be delivered by New Mexico at the New Mexico-Texas state line in the quantity released less

channel losses. The unappropriated flood waters apportioned to Texas by this Compact that are

not impounded in reservoirs in New Mexico shall be measured and delivered at the New

Mexico-Texas state line.



(f) Beneficial use shall be the basis, the measure, and the limit of the right to use water.



Article VII



In the event of importation of water by man's activities to the Pecos River Basin from any other

river basin the state making the importation shall have the exclusive use of such imported water.



Article VIII



The provisions of this Compact shall not apply to, or interfere with, the right or power of either

signatory state to regulate within its boundaries the appropriation, use and control of water, not

inconsistent with its obligations under this Compact.



Article IX



In maintaining the flows at the New Mexico-Texas state line required by this Compact, New

Mexico shall in all instances apply the principle of prior appropriation within New Mexico.



Article X



The failure of either state to use the water, or any part thereof, the use of which is apportioned to

it under the terms of this Compact, shall not constitute a relinquishment of the right to such use,

nor shall it constitute a forfeiture or abandonment of the right to such use.



Article XI



Nothing in this Compact shall be construed as:



(a) Affecting the obligations of the United States under the Treaty with the United Mexican States

(Treaty Series 994);



(b) Affecting any rights or powers of the United States, its agencies or instrumentalities, in or to

the waters of the Pecos River, or its capacity to acquire rights in and to the use of said waters;



(c) Subjecting any property of the United States, its agencies or instrumentalities, to taxation by

any state or subdivision thereof, or creating any obligation on the part of the United States, its

agencies or instrumentalities, by reason of the acquisition, construction or operation of any

property or works of whatever kind, to make any payment to any state or political subdivision

thereof, state agency, municipality or entity whatsoever, in reimbursement for the loss of taxes;



(d) Subjecting any property of the United States, its agencies or instrumentalities, to the laws of

any state to an extent other than the extent to which such laws would apply without regard to this

Compact.



Article XII



The consumptive use of water by the United States or any of its agencies, instrumentalities or

wards shall be charged as a use by the state in which the use is made; provided, that such

consumptive use incident to the diversion, impounding, or conveyance of water in one state for

use in the other state shall be charged to such latter state.



Article XIII



This Compact shall not be construed as establishing any general principle or precedent applicable

to other interstate streams.



Article XIV



This Compact may be terminated at any time by appropriate action of the legislatures of both of

the signatory states. In the event of such termination, all rights established under it shall continue

unimpaired.



Article XV



This Compact shall become binding and obligatory when it shall have been ratified by the

legislature of each State and approved by the Congress of the United States. Notice of

ratification by the legislature of each State shall be given by the Governor of that State to the

Governor of the other State and to the President of the United States, and the President is hereby

requested to give notice to the Governor of each State of approval by the Congress of the United

States.



In Witness Whereof, the Commissioners have executed three counterparts hereof each of which

shall be and constitute an original, one of which shall be deposited in the archives of the

Department of State of the United States, and one of which shall be forwarded to the Governor of

each State.



Done at the City of Santa Fe, State of New Mexico, this 3rd day of December, 1948.



_____________________________



JOHN H. BLISS



Commissioner for the State of New Mexico



_____________________________



CHARLES H. MILLER



Commissioner for the State of Texas



APPROVED



________________________________



BERKELEY JOHNSON



Representative of the United States of America



Acts 1971, 62nd Leg., p. 110, ch. 58, Sec. 1, eff. Aug. 30, 1971.