Assigned to NREW                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 FOR COMMITTEE

ARIZONA STATE SENATE

Fifty-Fifth Legislature, First Regular Session

FACT SHEET FOR H.C.M. 2003

Colorado river; urging augmentation

Purpose

                      Urges the Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior to take all necessary measures to fulfill its obligations to provide for Colorado River water augmentation and conservation.

Background

                      Arizona ratified the Colorado River Compact, an agreement between the United States, Mexico and the seven Colorado River Basin States in 1944, "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 secure the expeditious agricultural and industrial development of the Colorado River Basin, the storage of its waters, and the protection of life and property from floods." (Colorado River Compact, 1944). The Lower Basin, composed of Arizona, Nevada and California, and the Upper Basin, composed of Wyoming, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico, receive entitlement to 7.5 million acre-feet. The Arizona v. California decree outlines distribution of water under circumstances of sufficient and insufficient availability for release and entitles California to senior priority rights over Arizona and Nevada (Arizona v. California, 376 U.S. 340).

                      There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.

Provisions

1.   Urges the Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior to immediately take all necessary measures to fulfill its obligations to provide for Colorado River water augmentation and conservation.

2.   Urges the Secretary of State to transmit copies of the memorial to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, the President of the U.S., the President of the U.S. Senate, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and each Member of Congress from the State of Arizona.

House Action

NREW                       2/1/21             DP             9-1-0-0

3^rd Read                   2/11/21                                 43-17-0

Prepared by Senate Research

March 15, 2021

KN/RA/gs