What types of water rights are in the Compact?
In general, there are two types of water rights that the U.S. Forest Service will have recognized in this Compact. One type is federal reserved water rights for consumptive uses. These water rights have relatively early priority dates (early 1900’s) but relatively small volumes of water use. These water rights will allow the U.S. Forest Service to conduct administrative functions on National Forest System lands. U.S. Forest Service will also have a reserved water right for emergency fire suppression. Consumptive uses are described in Question 9. The other type is instream flow water rights. There are 77 streams in the Compact itself for which the U.S. Forest Service will get state-based rights for instream flow. There will also be a process for the U.S. Forest Service to apply for an instream flow by obtaining a state water reservation. In exchange, the U.S. Forest Service has agreed to withdraw its reserved right claims for instream flows in the water adjudication. These state water r
