22o141 Docket
In the first of two water disputes the Court will hear on January 8, Texas alleges that New Mexico violated the Rio Grande Compact and the Rio Grande Project Act by excessively diverting water apportioned to Texas and its residents. In effect, Texas alleges that New Mexico has been taking water from the Rio Grande that should be going to Texas. The Court appointed a Special Master to hear the arguments, and the present dispute originated with the Special Master’s interim report, denying New Mexico’s motion to dismiss. The Supreme Court has original jurisdiction to hear the exceptions to the Special Master’s Report.
The Rio Grande Compact is a 1938 agreement between Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado that governs the equitable apportionment of Rio Grande water among the three states. Congress approved the agreement in 1939. The specific violation, alleged by Texas, is that New Mexico has both increased its water usage and authorized groundwater pumping near the Elephant Butte Reservoir—permitting over three thousand wells pumping tens of thousands of acre-feet of water—depriving Texas of water apportioned to it in the Compact. Texas interprets the Compact as requiring each of the signatories to deliver a set minimum amount of water to the Elephant Butte reservoir and then to allow that water to traverse New Mexico unobstructed so that Texas may benefit. But New Mexico’s obstructions, Texas claims, adversely impact the delivery of water intended for Texas and its residents.
New Mexico counters by claiming that Texas’s interpretation of the Rio Grande Compact is incorrect. Under the Compact, New Mexico argues, it is neither required to deliver a set minimum amount of water to the Reservoir nor must the state allow that water to run unimpeded to Texas. Rather, New Mexico claims that the 1938 Compact only obliges it to deliver an unspecified amount of water to the Reservoir. Thus, although it admits to diverting water through various mechanisms, New Mexico asserts it is not in violation of the Rio Grande Compact.
In an unusual move, the United States has also gotten involved as an intervening party, claiming New Mexico has additionally impeded its ability to deliver water to downstream users like Mexico. But seeing as the United States was not a signatory to the Rio Grande Compact, the Special Master perceives the intervention as an overstepping of federal power. There will likely be discussion during oral argument regarding the United States’ role in the dispute.
If the Court sides with Texas, New Mexico fears its economy might decline, as various profitable industries will have to stop pumping groundwater. Alternatively, if the Court sides with New Mexico, then Texas will have to formulate an alternative plan for many of its residents’ and company’s water supplies.