§ 1524. — Water furnished from Central Arizona Project.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 43USC1524]
TITLE 43--PUBLIC LANDS
CHAPTER 32--COLORADO RIVER BASIN PROJECT
SUBCHAPTER III--AUTHORIZED UNITS; PROTECTION OF EXISTING USES
Sec. 1524. Water furnished from Central Arizona Project
(a) Restriction on use of water for irrigation
Unless and until otherwise provided by Congress, water from the
Central Arizona Project shall not be made available directly or
indirectly for the irrigation of lands not having a recent irrigation
history as determined by the Secretary, except in the case of Indian
lands, national wildlife refuges, and, with the approval of the
Secretary, State-administered wildlife management areas.
(b) Contracts with municipal and industrial users
(1) Irrigation and municipal and industrial water supply under the
Central Arizona Project within the State of Arizona may, in the event
the Secretary determines that it is necessary to effect repayment, be
pursuant to master contracts with organizations which have power to levy
assessments against all taxable real property within their boundaries.
The terms and conditions of contracts or other arrangements whereby each
such organization makes water from the Central Arizona Project available
to users within its boundaries shall be subject to the Secretary's
approval, and the United States shall, if the Secretary determines such
action is desirable to facilitate carrying out the provisions of this
chapter, have the right to require that it be a party to such contracts
or that contracts subsidiary to the master contracts be entered into
between the United States and any user. The provisions of this clause
(1) shall not apply to the supplying of water to an Indian tribe for use
within the boundaries of an Indian reservation.
(2) Any obligation assumed pursuant to section 485h(d) of this title
with respect to any project contract unit or irrigation block shall be
repaid over a basic period of not more than fifty years; any water
service provided pursuant to section 485h(e) of this title may be on the
basis of delivery of water for a period of fifty years and for the
delivery of such water at an identical price per acre-foot for water of
the same class at the several points of delivery from the main canals
and conduits and from such other points of delivery as the Secretary may
designate; and long-term contracts relating to irrigation water supply
shall provide that water made available thereunder may be made available
by the Secretary for municipal or industrial purposes if and to the
extent that such water is not required by the contractor for irrigation
purposes.
(3) Contracts relating to municipal and industrial water supply
under the Central Arizona Project may be made without regard to the
limitations of the last sentence of section 485h(c) of this title; may
provide for the delivery of such water at an identical price per acre-
foot for water of the same class at the several points of delivery from
the main canals and conduits; and may provide for repayment over a
period of fifty years if made pursuant to clause (1) of said section and
for the delivery of water over a period of fifty years if made pursuant
to clause (2) thereof.
(c) Water conservation
Each contract under which water is provided under the Central
Arizona Project shall require that (1) there be in effect measures,
adequate in the judgment of the Secretary, to control expansion of
irrigation from aquifers affected by the irrigation in the contract
service area; (2) the canals and distribution systems through which
water is conveyed after its delivery by the United States to the
contractors shall be provided and maintained with linings adequate in
his judgment to prevent excessive conveyance losses; and (3) [Repealed.
Pub. L. 102-575, title XXXVII, Sec. 3710(k), Oct. 30, 1992, 106 Stat.
4751]. Such contracts shall be subordinate at all times to the
satisfaction of all existing contracts between the Secretary and users
in Arizona heretofore made pursuant to the Boulder Canyon Project Act
(45 Stat. 1057) [43 U.S.C. 617 et seq.].
(d) Water exchanges
The Secretary may require in any contract under which water is
provided from the Central Arizona Project that the contractor agree to
accept main stream water in exchange for or in replacement of existing
supplies from sources other than the main stream. The Secretary shall so
require in the case of users in Arizona who also use water from the Gila
River system to the extent necessary to make available to users of water
from the Gila River system in New Mexico additional quantities of water
as provided in and under the conditions specified in subsection (f) of
this section: Provided, That such exchanges and replacements shall be
accomplished without economic injury or cost to such Arizona
contractors.
(e) Water shortage priorities
In times of shortage or reduction of main stream Colorado River
water for the Central Arizona Project, as determined by the Secretary,
users which have yielded water from other sources in exchange for main
stream water supplied by that project shall have a first priority to
receive main stream water, as against other users supplied by that
project which have not so yielded water from other sources, but only in
quantities adequate to replace the water so yielded.
(f) New Mexico users; water exchange contracts
(1) In the operation of the Central Arizona Project, the Secretary
shall offer to contract with water users in New Mexico for water from
the Gila River, its tributaries and underground water sources in amounts
that will permit consumptive use of water in New Mexico of not to exceed
an annual average in any period of ten consecutive years of eighteen
thousand acre-feet, including reservoir evaporation, over and above the
consumptive uses provided for by article IV of the decree of the Supreme
Court of the United States in Arizona against California (376 U.S. 340).
Such increased consumptive uses shall not begin until, and shall
continue only so long as, delivery of Colorado River water to downstream
Gila River users in Arizona is being accomplished in accordance with
this chapter, in quantities sufficient to replace any diminution of
their supply resulting from such diversion from the Gila River, its
tributaries and underground water sources. In determining the amount
required for this purpose full consideration shall be given to any
differences in the quality of the waters involved.
(2) The Secretary shall further offer to contract with water users
in New Mexico for water from the Gila River, its tributaries, and
underground water sources in amounts that will permit consumptive uses
of water in New Mexico of not to exceed an annual average in any period
of ten consecutive years of an additional thirty thousand acre-feet,
including reservoir evaporation. Such further increases in consumptive
use shall not begin until, and shall continue only so long as, works
capable of augmenting the water supply of the Colorado River system have
been completed and water sufficiently in excess of two million eight
hundred thousand acre-feet per annum is available from the main stream
of the Colorado River for consumptive use in Arizona to provide water
for the exchanges herein authorized and provided. In determining the
amount required for this purpose full consideration shall be given to
any differences in the quality of the waters involved.
(3) All additional consumptive uses provided for in clauses (1) and
(2) of this subsection shall be subject to all rights in New Mexico and
Arizona as established by the decree entered by the United States
District Court for the District of Arizona on June 29, 1935, in United
States against Gila Valley Irrigation District and others (Globe Equity
Numbered 59) and to all other rights existing on September 30, 1968, in
New Mexico and Arizona to water from the Gila River, its tributaries,
and underground water sources, and shall be junior thereto and shall be
made only to the extent possible without economic injury or cost to the
holders of such rights.
(Pub. L. 90-537, title III, Sec. 304, Sept. 30, 1968, 82 Stat. 891; Pub.
L. 102-575, title XXXVII, Sec. 3710(k), Oct. 30, 1992, 106 Stat. 4751.)
References in Text
The Boulder Canyon Project Act, referred to in subsec. (c), is act
Dec. 21, 1928, ch. 42, 45 Stat. 1057, as amended, which is classified
generally to subchapter I (Sec. 617 et seq.) of chapter 12A of this
title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see section
617t of this title and Tables.
Codification
Subsec. (g) of this section, which restricted the use of water from
the projects authorized by this chapter for the production of basic
agricultural commodities on newly irrigated lands for a period of ten
years from Sept. 30, 1968, was omitted.
Amendments
1992--Subsec. (c)(3). Pub. L. 102-575 repealed cl. (3) which read as
follows: ``neither the contractor nor the Secretary shall pump or permit
others to pump ground water from within the exterior boundaries of the
service area of a contractor receiving water from the Central Arizona
Project for any use outside said contractor's service area unless the
Secretary and such contractor shall agree, or shall have previously
agreed, that a surplus of ground water exists and that drainage is or
was required.''
Transportation of Water Pumped Within Boundary
Section 3710(k) of Pub. L. 102-575 provided in part that: ``This
subsection [amending this section] does not authorize transportation of
water pumped within the exterior boundary of a Federal reclamation
project established prior to September 30, 1968, pursuant to the Act of
June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388; 43 U.S.C. 391) [see Short Title note set
out under section 371 of this title], as amended and supplemented,
across project boundaries.''
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in sections 1521, 1543 of this title;
title 16 section 460ddd.
