John Martin Reservoir
John Martin Reservoir is a reservoir on the Arkansas River in southeastern Colorado. Built and managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, it is used for flood control, irrigation, and recreation. John Martin Reservoir State Park lies on its shore. History. In the 1930s, U.S. Representative from Colorado John Martin successfully advocated for legislation in the U.S. Congress approving the building of a reservoir on the Arkansas River for the purposes of flood control. Signed into law in 1939 by President Roosevelt, the legislation assigned the task of construction to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers . The effort required the U.S. government to buy more than of land and relocate of Santa Fe Railway track. Construction of Caddoa Dam and Reservoir started in the fall of 1939. Rep. Martin died that year, and, in June 1940, both the dam and reservoir were renamed in his honor. Storage of water in the reservoir began in January 1943. The diversion of resources to fighting World War II caused delays in the project until 1946. The dam was finally completed in October 1948. In 1935 the U.S. Army Corps established the Tucumcari District to develop the Conchas Project in  Eastern New Mexico. At the conclusion of the construction of the Conchas Project the focus of the District moved to Caddoa, Colorado to construct the Caddoa Reservoir Project. The District staff relocated to Caddoa Colorado in December 4, 1939. At this time the District name was changed to the Caddoa District. In 1942 with the advent of World War Two the District made its final move to Albuquerque, New Mexico and was renamed the Albuquerque District which has remained the same since. At this time the focus of the district switched from Civil Works to Wartime activities which included work  to facilitate the development of Los Alamos Laboratory and their development of atomic energy and its application to weapons. In December 1948, the state governments of Colorado and Kansas signed the Arkansas River Compact, an agreement governing the two states' access to the river's water, including John Martin Reservoir. In 1980, the states developed a plan allocating 60% of the reservoir's water to Colorado and 40% to Kansas. Adherence to the Compact has been a recurrent source of controversy between the two states, serving as a primary factor in the decades-long water conflict litigation "Kansas v. Colorado