Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 53 Part 2.djvu/315

 53STAT.] 76TH CONG., 1 ST SESS.-CH. 155 -MAY 31, 1939 791 or quality of the water of the Rio Grande are composed and settled; however, nothing herein shall be interpreted to prevent recourse by a signatory state to the Supreme Court of the United States for redress should the character or quality of the water, at the point of delivery, be changed hereafter by one signatory state to the injury of another. Nothing herein shall be construed as an admission by any signatory state that the use of water for irrigation causes increase of salinity for which the user is responsible in law. ARTICLE XII. To administer the provisions of this Compact there shall be con- stituted a Commission composed of one representative from each state, to be known as the Rio Grande Compact Commission. The State Engineer of Colorado shall be ex-officio the Rio Grande Compact Commissioner for Colorado. The State Engineer of New Mexico shall be ex officio the Rio Grande Compact Commissioner for New Mexico. The Rio Grande Compact Commissioner for Texas shall be appointed by the Governor of Texas. The President of the United States shall be requested to designate a representative of United States to sit with such Commission, and such representative of the United States, if so designated by the President, shall act as Chairman of the Commission without vote. The salaries and personal expenses of the Rio Grande Compact Commissioners for the three States shall be paid by their respective States, and all other expenses incident to the administration of this Compact, not borne by the United States, shall be borne equally by the three States. In addition to the powers and duties hereinbefore specifically con- ferred upon such Commission, and the members thereof, the jurisdic- tion of such Commission shall extend only to the collection, correlation, and presentation of factual data and the maintenance of records having a bearing upon the administration of this Compact, and, by unanimous action, to the making of recommendations to the respective States upon matters connected with the administration of this Compact. In connection therewith, the Commission may employ such engineering and clerical aid as may be reasonably necessary within the limit of funds provided for that purpose by the respective States. Annual reports compiled for each calendar year shall be made by the Com- mission and transmitted to the Governors of the signatory States on or before March first following the year covered by the report. The Commission may, by unanimous action, adopt rules and regulations consistent with the provisions of this Compact to govern their proceedings. The findings of the Commission shall not be conclusive in any court or tribunal which may be called upon to interpret or enforce this Compact. ARTICLE XIII. At the expiration of every five-year period after the effective date of this Compact, the Commission may, by unanimous consent, review any provisions hereof which are not substantive in character and which do not affect the basic principles upon which the Compact is founded, and shall meet for the consideration of such questions on the request of any member of the Commission; provided, however, that the provisions hereof shall remain in full force and effect until changed and amended within the intent of the Compact by unanimous action of the Commissioners and until any changes in this Compact are ratified by the legislatures of the respective states and consented to

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