An interstate water compact is an agreement between two or more states regarding competing demands for a water resource which are beyond the legal authority of one state alone to solve. An interstate compact is an agreement negotiated between states, adopted by their state legislatures, and then approved by Congress. Once an allocation of interstate water is determined by such a means, the individual states may then issue water rights to its share of the water through their normal administrative process. Interstate compacts have been traditionally used in making water allocations in the western states.
