# 43 U.S.C. § 617c: Condition precedent to taking effect of provisions > Federal · Statutes · In force URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/usc_t43_s617c ## Section - **Citation:** 43 U.S.C. § 617c - **Heading:** Condition precedent to taking effect of provisions - **Jurisdiction:** Federal - **Kind:** Statutes - **Status:** In force - **Text as of:** April 17, 2026 - **Source:** Publisher's official text - **Location:** Title 43—PUBLIC LANDS > CHAPTER 12A—BOULDER CANYON PROJECT > SUBCHAPTER I—BOULDER CANYON PROJECT ACT ## Text This subchapter shall not take effect and no authority shall be exercised under this subchapter and no work shall be begun and no moneys expended on or in connection with the works or structures provided for in this subchapter, and no water rights shall be claimed or initiated thereunder, and no steps shall be taken by the United States or by others to initiate or perfect any claims to the use of water pertinent to such works or structures unless and until (1) the States of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming shall have ratified the Colorado River compact, mentioned in section 617 l of this title, and the President by public proclamation shall have so declared, or (2) if said States fail to ratify the said compact within six months from December 21, 1928 , then, until six of said States, including the State of California, shall ratify said compact and shall consent to waive the provisions of the first paragraph of Article XI of said compact, which makes the same binding and obligatory only when approved by each of the seven States signatory thereto, and shall have approved said compact without conditions, save that of such six-State approval, and the President by public proclamation shall have so declared, and, further, until the State of California, by act of its legislature, shall agree irrevocably and unconditionally with the United States and for the benefit of the States of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, as an express covenant and in consideration of the passage of this subchapter, that the aggregate annual consumptive use (diversions less returns to the river) of water of and from the Colorado River for use in the State of California, including all uses under contracts made under the provisions of this subchapter and all water necessary for the supply of any rights which existed on December 21, 1928 , shall not exceed four million four hundred thousand acre-feet of the waters apportioned to the lower basin States by paragraph (a) of Article III of the Colorado River compact, plus not more than one-half of any excess or surplus waters unapportioned by said compact, such uses always to be subject to the terms of said compact. The States of Arizona, California, and Nevada are authorized to enter into an agreement which shall provide (1) that of the 7,500,000 acre-feet annually apportioned to the lower basin by paragraph (a) of Article III of the Colorado River compact, there shall be apportioned to the State of Nevada 300,000 acre-feet and to the State of Arizona 2,800,000 acre-feet for exclusive beneficial consumptive use in perpetuity, and (2) that the State of Arizona may annually use one-half of the excess or surplus waters unapportioned by the Colorado River compact, and (3) that the State of Arizona shall have the exclusive beneficial consumptive use of the Gila River and its tributaries within the boundaries of said State, and (4) that the waters of the Gila River and its tributaries, except return flow after the same enters the Colorado River, shall never be subject to any diminution whatever by any allowance of water which may be made by treaty or otherwise to the United States of Mexico but if, as provided in paragraph (c) of Article III of the Colorado River compact, it shall become necessary to supply water to the United States of Mexico from waters over and above the quantities which are surplus as defined by said compact, then the State of California shall and will mutually agree with the State of Arizona to supply out of the main stream of the Colorado River, one-half of any deficiency which must be supplied to Mexico by the lower basin, and (5) that the State of California shall and will further mutually agree with the States of Arizona and Nevada that none of said three States shall withhold water and none shall require the delivery of water, which cannot reasonably be applied to domestic and agricultural uses, and (6) that all of the provisions of said tri-State agreement shall be subject in all particulars to the provisions of the Colorado River compact and (7) said agreement to take effect upon the ratification of the Colorado River compact by Arizona, California, and Nevada. ( Dec. 21, 1928, ch. 42, § 4 , 45 Stat. 1058 .) ## Nearby sections - [43 U.S.C. § 617 Colorado River Basin; protection and development; dam, reservoir, and incidental works; water, water power, and electrical energy; eminent domain](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/usc_t43_s617.md) - [43 U.S.C. § 617a “Colorado River Dam Fund”](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/usc_t43_s617a.md) - [43 U.S.C. § 617b Authorization of appropriations](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/usc_t43_s617b.md) - [43 U.S.C. § 617c Condition precedent to taking effect of provisions](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/usc_t43_s617c.md) - [43 U.S.C. § 617d Contracts for storage and use of waters for irrigation and domestic purposes; generation and sale of electrical energy](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/usc_t43_s617d.md) - [43 U.S.C. § 617e Uses to be made of dam and reservoir; title in whom; leases, regulations; limitation on authority](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/usc_t43_s617e.md) - [43 U.S.C. § 617f Canals and appurtenant structures; transfer of title; power development](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/usc_t43_s617f.md) - [43 U.S.C. § 617g Colorado River compact as controlling authority in construction and maintenance of dam, reservoir, canals, and other works](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/usc_t43_s617g.md) - [43 U.S.C. § 617h Lands capable of irrigation and reclamation by irrigation works; public entry; preferences](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/usc_t43_s617h.md) - [43 U.S.C. § 617i Modification of existing compact relating to Laguna Dam](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/usc_t43_s617i.md) - [43 U.S.C. § 617j Omitted](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/usc_t43_s617j.md) - [43 U.S.C. § 617k Definitions](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/usc_t43_s617k.md) - [43 U.S.C. § 617l Colorado River compact approval](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/usc_t43_s617l.md) - [43 U.S.C. § 617m Reclamation law applicable](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/usc_t43_s617m.md) --- Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/usc_t43_s617c. 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