InterstateArrangements

From Water Wiki

Many states in the United States have entered into formal interstate arrangements, generally compacts, to govern water movement on major rivers that cross state lines.

Active interstate compacts:

• Delaware River Basin Compact and the Delaware River Basin Commission
  

The Compact does not solve all political disputes over water--inter or intra state--such as 2008 protests from Pennsylvanians who've experienced flooding about the operation of New York's reservoirs primarily to hold water for water supplies; there were three major floods on the main stem in less than two years, in 2004-2006. A 1954 Supreme Court decree allocated water between New York and the downriver users (800 mgd right, uses 650 mgd; gave New Jersey 100 mgd and sets a Montague flow target of 1,750 cfs. There is also a lower basin flow objective, at Trenton). This was not enough to handle droughts in the 1960s. E.g., the Cannonsville Reservoir was down to 6.5% capacity in December 2001. Attempts to negotiate modifications to the Supreme Court decree have been very difficult. About 15 million people (5% of the US population) rely on the basin for its water. NYC gets about half of its water from three reservoirs on tributaries to the Delaware, even though it is outside the basin. The Commission was founded in 1961 with five members, including a federal representatives.

• Colorado River Compact
  

Defunct compacts

• Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin Compact, Pub. L. No. 105-104, 111 Stat. 2219 (Alabama, Florida, Georgia) (terminated Aug. 31, 2003).
  

  

  Apalachicola-Flint-Chattahoochee watershed

• North Carolina has created three bi-state commisions to discuss and make recommendations on interstate water issues: the Roanoke (with Virginia), Yadkin-PeeDee (with South Carolina), and the Catawba (with South Carolina). To date, only the Catawba Bi-state Commission has been active.

Litigation

• South Carolina v. North Carolina. S.C. has filed suit against N.C. in the U.S. Supreme Court, challenging the N.C. Environmental Management Commission's decision to allow Concord and Kannapolis to have an interbasin transfer of 10 mgd of water from the Catawba to the Yadkin basin.
  
• Tri-states litigation : Georgia, Alabama, Florida. The conflicts over the ACF (Apalachicola/Chattahoochee/Flint) and ACT (Alabama/Coosa/Tallapoosa) waters are primarily being hashed out in protracted litigation.