Kansas-Oklahoma Arkansas River Compact
Kansas and Oklahoma entered the Arkansas River Compact in 1965 to promote interstate comity, to equitably divide and promote the orderly development of the waters of the Lower Arkansas River Basin, to provide an agency for administering the waters of the basin and to encourage an active pollution abatement program in each state.
The compact commission is composed of three commissioners appointed by the governor of Kansas, three commissioners appointed by the governor of Oklahoma, and two commissioners appointed by the President of the United States. The current commissioners are:
Kansas
David Barfield, Chief Engineer of Kansas Department of Agriculture, Division of Water Resources
Peggy Blackman of Marion, Kansas
Bruce Falk of Stafford, Kansas
Oklahoma
Duane Smith, Director of Oklahoma Water Resources Board
Ross Kirtley of Mustang, Oklahoma
Bryce Benson of Alva, Oklahoma
United States
Federal commissioner: vacant
Alternate federal commissioner: Earnest Gilder of Muskogee, Oklahoma
In a pending letter to President Obama, Kansas and Oklahoma are recommending the appointment of Earnest Gilder of Muskogee, Oklahoma for federal commissioner and Chuck Shively of Coffeyville, Kansas for alternate federal commissioner.
The compact provides for a maximum amount of “new conservation storage” to be constructed within the Arkansas River Basin. Conservation storage is that portion of active reservoir storage capacity that exceeds 100 acre-feet in reservoirs constructed after July 1, 1963. The following table illustrates the conservation storage allocations and the remaining storage allocations as of March 26, 2010.
| Arkansas River Subbasin | Conservation Storage Allocation | Remaining Storage Allocation |
|---|---|---|
| Grand-Neosho River Basin | 650,000 acre-feet | 512,887 acre-feet |
| Verdigris River Subbasin | 300,000 acre-feet | 1,215,052 acre-feet1 |
| Mainstem Arkansas River Subbasin | 600,000 acre-feet | 598,515 acre-feet |
| Salt Fork River Subbasin | 300,000 acre-feet | 295,967 acre-feet |
| Cimarron River Subbasin | 5,000 acre-feet | 5,000 acre-feet |
| Cimarron Subbasin (Oklahoma) | 5,000 acre-feet | 5,000 acre-feet |
1The Verdigris subbasin has an allocation above that allocated by the compact because it has been credited additional storage as a result of conservation storage constructed in Oklahoma.
The compact commission monitors streamflow and water quality at several locations throughout the basin, as well as tabulates new conservation storage that has been constructed in the various subbasins of the Lower Arkansas River. Currently, none of the subbasins in Kansas is close to approaching their allocated storage capacities.
Page last updated July 29, 2010.
