Kansas-Colorado Arkansas River Compact Background

The Kansas-Colorado Arkansas River (Compact) was negotiated in 1948 between Kansas and Colorado with participation by the federal government. Its stated purposes are: (1) to settle existing disputes and remove causes of future controversy between Colorado and Kansas, and (2) 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. The Compact marked the culmination of decades of failed settlements and temporary agreements.

The compact also established the Arkansas River Compact Administration (Administration or ARCA) to administer its provisions. ARCA is composed of three Kansas representatives, three Colorado representatives, and a federal representative appointed by the President of the United States. The three Kansas representatives are appointed by the governor and consist of two representatives that are a resident and water right owner in Finney, Kearney, or Hamilton Counties and the Chief Engineer. Chief Engineer Earl Lewis, Zach Gale, and Troy Dumler currently serve as the Kansas representatives.

Officers of the Administration are laid out in the by-laws of the Administration. Kansas currently has one officer on the Administration. Kevin Salter, Interstate Water Engineer with KDA, serves as the Assistant Operations Secretary.

Litigation Regarding the Compact

After the Compact was adopted by the States and Congress, Colorado allowed high-capacity irrigation wells to be developed in the Arkansas River Valley. The well pumping reduced river flow and materially depleted water that would have been available to Kansas. 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 U.S. 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 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. Colorado also paid Kansas more than $1.1 million in costs related to litigating this case before the Supreme Court. This money has been deposited in three funds created by statute that specify generally how and where the money will be spent.

A judgment and decree was jointly developed by Kansas and Colorado based on decisions by the special master and the Court. The decree contains several appendices, such as the hydrologic-institutional model (H-I Model or HIM) and accounting procedures, which are used to determine if Colorado is in compliance with the Compact. This judgment and decree was included in the special master’s fifth and final report which was entered by the Court on March 9, 2009.

An appendix to the judgment and decree was modified in 2009 as a result of an evaluation of the replacement requirements for Colorado well users along the Arkansas River between Pueblo, Colorado, and the Colorado-Kansas state line. The States submitted the modified appendix to the Court in August 4, 2009, bringing an end to the active litigation before the Court.

There have been modifications to the decree appendices over the years. The current decree and appendices can be found on the Supreme Court’s website, https://www.supremecourt.gov/SpecMastRpt/SpecMastRpt.aspx.

Kansas staff and technical experts continue to monitor Colorado's compliance on an annual basis. Each year, the water accounting for the prior calendar year period is reviewed and added to a running ten-year accounting table. Colorado has been in compliance to date.

Upper Arkansas River Data

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Corps of Engineers

• Corps, Reservoir plots for John Martin, Pueblo and Trinidad for a variety of time periods
• Corps, John Martin 5-day plot
• Corps, John Martin daily report (for the previous day operations, usually available late morning)

Bureau of Reclamation

• Pueblo - Current Reservoir data from the Bureau
• Hydromet data
• Pueblo Dam info

U.S. Geological Survey

USGS, Colorado surface water data - Real-time data typically recorded at 15-60 minute intervals, stored onsite, and then transmitted to USGS offices every 1 to 4 hours, depending on the data relay technique used.

• Ark River at Moffat Street (Pueblo)
• Fountain Creek at Pueblo
• Ark River near Avondale (below Pueblo and Fountain Creek)
• USGS, Ark River above John Martin (at Las Amimas)
• USGS, Purgatoire River above John Martin (near Las Aminas)
• USGS, John Martin outflow
• Ark River at Lamar
• Ark River at Granada

Real-time data for selected streamflow stations from Pueblo to Granada, Colorado

USGS, Kansas surface water flow data - Real-time data for Kansas streamflow.

• USGS, Coolidge
• USGS, Frontier Ditch
• USGS, Garden City

Real-time data for selected gages from the state line to Garden City

Data - State of Colorado

Colorado streamflow, Colorado Division of Water Resources - the Division maintains a network of stream and reservoir monitoring sites which collect and transmit periodic data values.

• Arkansas River Daily Report, Ditch and Reservoirs

Forecast Center

Arkansas-Red Basin River Forecast Center

• Precipitation - includes daily plots of precipitation from 12Z (Zulu) to 12Z. That is 7 a.m. to 7 a.m. CDT, or 6 a.m. to 6 a.m. CST. Latest photo.

Arkansas River Surface Water Distribution Plan

This page contains the 2016 distribution plan for surface waters of the Arkansas River pursuant to federal court decrees and related documents. The table below includes links to the plan, a map of the area, and pertinent background documents.