IWI-Kansas-Oklahoma Arkansas River Compact

• Kansas-Oklahoma Arkansas River Compact

  The Compact Commission is composed of three commissioners appointed by the Governor of Kansas, three commissioners appointed by the Governor of Oklahoma, and is chaired by a federal representative appointed by the President of the United States. The current commissioners are:

  Kansas
  Chris Beightel, Acting Chief Engineer of the Kansas Department of Agriculture, Division of Water Resources
  Doug Blex of Independence, Kansas
  Bruce Falk of Stafford, Kansas

  Oklahoma
  Julie Cunningham, Director of the Oklahoma Water Resources Board
  Ross Kirtley of Mustang, Oklahoma
  Bryce Benson of Alva, Oklahoma

  United States
  Federal Commissioner: Earnie Gilder of Muskogee, Oklahoma
  Alternate Federal Commissioner: Chuck Shively of Coffeyville, Kansas

  The compact provides for a maximum amount of “new conservation storage” to be constructed within the Arkansas River Basin. Conservation storage is that portion of active reservoir storage capacity that exceeds 100 acre-feet in reservoirs constructed after July 1, 1963. The following table illustrates the conservation storage allocations and the remaining storage allocations as of March 26, 2010.

  Arkansas River Subbasin	Conservation Storage Allocation	Remaining Storage Allocation
  Grand-Neosho River Subbasin	650,000 acre-feet	513,028 acre-feet
  Verdigris River Subbasin	300,000 acre-feet	1,214,930 acre-feet1
  Mainstem Arkansas River Subbasin	600,000 acre-feet	598,515 acre-feet
  Salt Fork River Subbasin	300,000 acre-feet	295,967 acre-feet
  Cimarron River Subbasin	5,000 acre-feet	5,000 acre-feet
  Cimarron River Subbasin (Oklahoma)	5,000 acre-feet	5,000 acre-feet

  ¹The Verdigris River Subbasin has an allocation above what was originally allocated by the compact because it has been credited additional storage as a result of conservation storage constructed in Oklahoma.

  The Compact Commission monitors streamflow and water quality at several locations throughout the basin and tabulates new conservation storage that has been constructed in the various subbasins of the Lower Arkansas River. Currently, none of the subbasins in Kansas are close to approaching their allocated storage capacities.

  Page last updated July 9, 2020.

• Kansas-Oklahoma Arkansas River Compact History

  The 1955 Congress passed Public Law 340 giving consent to Kansas and Oklahoma to negotiate and enter into a compact to apportion the waters of the Lower Arkansas River and its tributaries. On March 13, 1956, the first meeting of the Arkansas River Compact Committee was in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In the early stages of what were to be 26 meetings of the committee, it formed the engineering and legal subcommittees.

  The committees researched all existing historical hydrologic data throughout the basin and concluded that streamflows were highly erratic. Even in areas of the highest rainfall, streamflows have ranged from zero or near zero to very high maximums. The committee concluded that this condition demanded that reservoirs be constructed to regulate streamflow, and sought to obtain as much conservation storage space as possible within economic and sociopolitical limits.

  The conservation storage allocations that were ultimately agreed to for the subbasins within the compact area were based on flows that occurred during the 1952 to 1957 drought and the projected needs in the year 2000. The committee agreed that storage allocations should provide flexibility and allow for unseen circumstances, especially for Kansas, the upstream state. Therefore, “escalator clauses” were placed in each basin allocation to allow an increase in storage capacity as new storage capacity is constructed in the downstream state, Oklahoma. The committee concluded that the compact should contain provisions to ensure that federal storage—reservoir storage not provided at state or local expense—be operated in the best interest of both states.

  The committee believed that the existing streamflow gaging stations located near the state line to be adequate for present needs and their operation should be continued. The committee also found that the water quality of the river and its tributaries of good mineral quality at or near the state line, and that chemical quality data collection should be continued. At the 1973 annual meeting, the engineering committee was instructed to include in the annual reports state line streamflow data for the Arkansas, Caney, Chikaskia, Cimarron, Grand-Neosho, Verdigris and Salt Fork rivers. Since 1974, the engineering committee has included water quality data from available state line stations, as well as new or replaced conservation storage, in its reports.

  In 1996 the compact commission requested that the engineering committee evaluate the then current level of flow data and water quality data provided to the commission and make a determination whether it is sufficient for compact needs. The engineering committee recommended that the current level of hydrologic and quality data is sufficient. This level of reporting continues.

• Kansas-Oklahoma Arkansas River Compact Documents

  Kansas-Oklahoma Arkansas River Compact 1966
  
  Rules and Regulations, Kansas Oklahoma Arkansas River Compact
      -As per the 2008, forty-first annual report and last amended on July 28, 1999
  
  2015 Kansas-Oklahoma Arkansas River Commission Annual Meeting Documents

  • Annual Meeting Report

  2014 Kansas-Oklahoma Arkansas River Commission Annual Meeting Documents

  • Annual Meeting Notice
  • Annual Meeting Agenda
  • Kansas Commissioners' Report
  • Oklahoma Commissioners' Report
  • Budgets, Fiscal Year 2015-2016
  • Treasury Report
  • 2014 Audit
  • Engineering Committee Report
  • Commission Directory

  2013 Kansas-Oklahoma Arkansas River Commission Annual Meeting Documents

  • 2013 Annual Meeting Minutes

  2012 Kansas-Oklahoma Arkansas River Commission Annual Meeting Documents

  • 2012 Kansas Compact Report Final

  2010 Kansas-Oklahoma Arkansas River Commission Annual Meeting Documents

  • Annual Meeting Agenda
  • Member List
  • Draft Meeting Minutes from 2009
  • Resolution Pertaining to William E. Franklin
  • Kansas Commissioners' Report
  • Oklahoma Commissioners' Report
  • Forty-Second Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2009
  • Treasury Report for Fiscal Year 2010
  • 2009 Audit
  • Engineering Committee Report 
  • U.S. Geological Survey Summary Sheet
  • Bureau of Reclamation Activity Report