US SUPREME COURT DECISIONS
OCTOBER TERM, 1993
Decree
OKLAHOMA ET AL. v. NEW MEXICO
ON JOINT MOTION FOR ENTRY OF STIPULATED JUDGMENT AND DECREE
No. 109, Orig. Decided June 17, 1991-Judgment and decree entered December 13, 1993
Judgment and decree entered.
Opinion reported: 501 U. S. 221.
The joint motion for entry of stipulated judgment and decree, as modified, is granted.
STIPULATED JUDGMENT, AS MODIFIED
1. New Mexico has been in violation of Article IV(b) of the Canadian River Compact from 1987 to date.
2. Pursuant to Paragraph 8 of the Decree entered in this case, New Mexico shall release from Ute Reservoir in 1993 sufficient water to result in an aggregate of not more than 200,000 acre-feet of conservation storage below Conchas Dam in New Mexico, including conservation storage in the other reservoirs subject to the limitation under Article IV(b) of the Canadian River Compact. The release of water from Ute Reservoir will be coordinated with Oklahoma and Texas and will be at the call of Texas.
3. New Mexico shall also release from Ute Reservoir an additional 25,000 acre-feet of storage below the Article IV(b) limitation. New Mexico shall operate Ute Reservoir through the year 2002 at or below the elevations set forth in the schedule below and in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph 8 of the Decree entered in this case. The schedule includes annual adjustments for sediment accumulation in Ute Reservoir and assumes the other reservoirs subject to the Article IV(b) limitation maintain storage at their total capacity of 6,760 acre-feet. The schedule shall be adjusted by the parties to reflect additional amounts of water in conservation storage in any reservoir enlarged or constructed
after 1992. Releases of water from Ute Reservoir will be coordinated with Oklahoma and Texas and will be at the call of Texas.
Ute Reservoir Operating Schedule
Year | Authorized Elevation | Reduced Storage Amount | Corresponding Reduced Elevation | |
| After release in | 1993 | 3781.58 | 25,000 | 3777.86 |
| 1994 | 3781.66 | 25,000 | 3777.95 | |
| 1995 | 3781.74 | 25,000 | 3778.04 | |
| 1996 | 3781.83 | 25,000 | 3778.14 | |
| 1997 | 3781.91 | 25,000 | 3778.23 | |
| 1998 | 3781.99 | 20,000 | 3779.08 | |
| 1999 | 3782.08 | 15,000 | 3779.91 | |
| 2000 | 3782.16 | 6,250 | 3781.28 | |
| 2001 | 3782.24 | 3,125 | 3781.80 | |
| Refilled in | 2002 | 3782.32 | -0- | 3782.32 |
4. Within 75 days after entry of judgment New Mexico shall pay as attorney's fees $200,000 to Texas and $200,000 to Oklahoma. The parties agree that such payments do not constitute and shall not be considered as an admission, express or implicit, that New Mexico has any liability to Texas or Oklahoma for attorney's fees.
5. Oklahoma and Texas shall release New Mexico from all claims for equitable or legal relief, other than the relief embodied in the Decree of the parties, arising out of New Mexico's violation of the Canadian River Compact during the years 1987 through the date this Stipulated Judgment is entered.
6. In the event of a conflict between this Judgment and the Decree entered in this case, the provisions of the Judgment shall control.
7. The costs of this case shall be equally divided among the parties.
