Title 43 — Public LandsRelease 119-73

§617g Colorado River compact as controlling authority in construction and maintenance of dam, reservoir, canals, and other works

Title 43 › Chapter CHAPTER 12A— - BOULDER CANYON PROJECT › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - BOULDER CANYON PROJECT ACT › § 617g

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Requires the United States and anyone it permits, licenses, or contracts with, plus all people who use or claim water from the reservoir, canals, or other works, to follow the Colorado River Compact when they build, run, or use those projects. That includes how water is stored, moved, delivered, and used for power, irrigation, or other purposes. All permits, licenses, and contracts must say this. Also, any compact among Arizona, California, and Nevada (or any two of them) that divides the benefits from that water must be consistent with the Colorado River Compact. If Congress approved such a compact on or before January 1, 1929, it controls. Compacts approved after that date can also apply, but they must respect any contracts the Secretary of the Interior made under section 617d before Congress approved the new compact.

Full Legal Text

Title 43, §617g

Public Lands — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The United States, its permittees, licensees, and contractees, and all users and appropriators of water stored, diverted, carried, and/or distributed by the reservoir, canals, and other works herein, authorized shall observe and be subject to and controlled by said Colorado River compact in the construction, management, and operation of said reservoir, canals, and other works and the storage, diversion, delivery, and use of water for the generation of power, irrigation, and other purposes, anything in this subchapter to the contrary notwithstanding, and all permits, licenses, and contracts shall so provide.

(b)Also the United States, in constructing, managing, and operating the dam, reservoir, canals, and other works herein authorized in including the appropriation, delivery, and use of water for the generation of power, irrigation, or other uses, and all users of water thus delivered and all users and appropriators of waters stored by said reservoir and/or carried by said canal, including all permittees and licensees of the United States or any of its agencies, shall observe and be subject to and controlled, anything to the contrary herein notwithstanding, by the terms of such compact, if any, between the States of Arizona, California, and Nevada, or any two thereof, for the equitable division of the benefits, including power, arising from the use of water accruing to said States, subsidiary to and consistent with said Colorado River compact, which may have been negotiated and approved by said States and to which Congress shall have given its consent and approval on or before January 1, 1929; and the terms of any such compact concluded between said States and approved and consented to by Congress after said date: Provided, That in the latter case such compact shall be subject to all contracts, if any, made by the Secretary of the Interior under section 617d of this title prior to the date of such approval and consent by Congress.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

43 U.S.C. § 617g

Title 43 — Public Lands

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73