Programs

    California is one of the seven Colorado River Basin States that shares an allocation of water from the Colorado River System pursuant to the 1922 Colorado River Compact and additional elements of the “Law of the River”, a term used to describe the numerous compacts, laws, court decisions, decrees, contracts, rules and guidelines used to help manage the system.

    Since 1922 the Colorado River Basin States have worked together and with the federal government to manage and operate the Colorado River System and have developed tools and guidelines to help guide those operations.

    The Bureau of Reclamation plays an important role in the operation of facilities and accounting for water uses in the Lower Colorado River System. The accounting of water uses in the Upper Basin is coordinated through the Upper Colorado River Commission, established under the Upper Colorado River Basin Compact of 1948. In 2007, the Secretary of the Interior adopted the Interim Guidelines for Lower Basin Shortages and Coordinated Operations for Lake Powell and Lake Mead that establish operating guidelines for the system through 2026.

    For more information see:

    1922 Colorado River Compact

    A summary of the Law of the River

    Bureau of Reclamation’s Lower Colorado River Accounting and Operations

    2007 Interim Guidelines for Lower Basin Shortages and Coordinated Operations for Lake Powell and Lake Mead