128
Decree
DECREE, AS MODIFIED
1. Under Article IV(a) of the Canadian River Compact (Compact), New Mexico is permitted free and unrestricted use of the waters of the Canadian River and its tributaries in New Mexico above Conchas Dam, such use to be made above or at Conchas Dam, including diversions for use on the Tucumcari Project and the Bell Ranch and the on-project storage of return flow or operational waste from those two projects so long as the recaptured water does not include the mainstream or tributary flows of the Canadian River; provided that transfers of water rights from above Conchas Dam to locations below Conchas Dam shall be subject to the conservation storage limitation of Compact Article IV(b). Nothing in this paragraph shall be deemed to determine whether or not the place of use of water rights may be transferred to locations outside the Canadian River basin in New Mexico.
2. Under Compact Article IV(b), New Mexico is limited to storage of no more than 200,000 acre-feet of the waters of the Canadian River and its tributaries, regardless of point of origin, at any time in reservoirs in the Canadian River basin in New Mexico below Conchas Dam for any beneficial use, exclusive of water stored for the exempt purposes specified in Compact Article II(d) and on-project storage of irrigation return flows or operational waste on the Tucumcari Project and Bell Ranch as provided for in Paragraph 1 of this Decree.
3. Quantities of water stored primarily for flood protection, power generation, or sediment control are not chargeable as conservation storage under the Compact even though incidental use is made of such waters for recreation, fish and wildlife, or other beneficial uses not expressly mentioned in the Compact. In situations where storage may be for multiple purposes, including both conservation storage and exempt storage, nothing in this Decree shall preclude the Canadian River Commission (Commission) from exempting
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