Kansas-Colorado Arkansas River Compact Update
NEWS
At a Special Meeting of the Arkansas River Compact Administration on February 11, 2010, Kansas and Colorado agreed to a set of revisions to the Resolution Concerning an Operating Plan for John Martin Reservoir ("1980 Operating Plan"). Kansas Chief Engineer and Compact Representative David Barfield read this statement summarizing the history of these revisions into the record.
The Kansas-Colorado Arkansas River Compact was negotiated in 1948 between Kansas and Colorado with participation by the federal government. Its stated purposes are to settle existing disputes and remove causes of future controversy between Colorado and Kansas. Controversy concerns the waters of the Arkansas River. The purpose of the compact is to equitably divide and apportion between Colorado and Kansas the waters of the Arkansas River as well as the benefits arising from John Martin Reservoir.
Fact Sheet - Kansas-Colorado Arkansas River Compact
Chief Engineer David Barfield serves as one of three compact commissioners along with David Brenn and Randy Hayzlett. Kevin Salter serves as Assistant Operations Secretary of the compact administration. Kansas Department of Agriculture staff provides technical and legal support.
Kansas filed Kansas v. Colorado, No. 105, Original, in 1985 to enforce the terms of the compact. In 1994, Special Master Littleworth recommended that the United States Supreme Court determine that Colorado had violated Article IV-D of the compact by means of post-compact well pumping in Colorado. On May 15, 1995, the Supreme Court agreed. As a result of the damages and remedies phase, Colorado paid Kansas more than $34 million in damages for Colorado's compact violations during the period 1950 through 1999. On June 29, 2006, Colorado also paid Kansas more than $1.1 million in costs. This money has been deposited in three funds created by statute that specify generally how and where the money will be spent.
The special master submitted his fifth and final report to the Supreme Court in January 2008, including the judgment and decree, which was entered by the Supreme Court on March 9, 2009. The judgment and decree provided that the Supreme Court would retain jurisdiction for a limited period while the states evaluated the sufficiency of the 1996 Colorado Use Rules. As a result of that evaluation, the states modified an appendix of the judgment and decree to provide for a continuing process to set replacement requirements for Colorado well users along the Arkansas River between Pueblo, Colorado, and the Colorado-Kansas Stateline. The states submitted the modified appendix to the Supreme Court on August 4, 2009, bringing an end to the retained jurisdiction. To learn more read the 
Attorney General's press release dated August 4, 2009.
The judgment and decree was jointly developed by Kansas and Colorado based on decisions by the special master and the U.S. Supreme Court. The decree contains several appendices, such as the hydrologic-institutional model and accounting procedures, which will be used to determine if Colorado is in compliance.
Kansas staff and technical experts continue to monitor Colorado's efforts on an annual basis. Each year, the compliance accounting for the prior 10-year period will be reviewed. Colorado has been in compliance for each of the 10-year compliance periods reviewed to date.
Page last updated February 12, 2010.