WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court confirmed federal jurisdiction in Texas’ lawsuit against New Mexico on March 5, ordering the case involving water rights to the Rio Grande River to be remanded back to the Special Master.
“The United States may pursue the particular claims it has pleaded in this case,” Justice Neil Gorsuch stated in the court opinion. All exceptions were overruled except for those made by the United States.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton "applauded" the court's decision, according to a press release.
"The Rio Grande Compact apportions the waters of the Rio Grande among Texas, New Mexico and Colorado. Texas is deprived of water apportioned to it by the agreement because New Mexico has authorized and permitted thousands of wells near the Rio Grande in New Mexico," the press release stated.
Gorsuch noted one reason the federal court has jurisdiction is because “a breach of the (Rio Grande) Compact could jeopardize the federal government’s ability to satisfy its treaty obligations to Mexico.”
The state of Colorado, a defendant, argued that the government shouldn’t intervene except in how it relates to the Mexico treaty. The United States supplies around 60,000 acre-feet of water to Mexico annually according to the Rio Grande Project, and the federal government supplies water to New Mexico and Texas through the Elephant Butte Reservoir.
Texas brought its lawsuit against New Mexico in 2013, claiming that New Mexico was defying the Compact by not controlling its citizens pumping water from under the Elephant Butte Reservoir on the river banks, taking water away from Texans.
"The United States intervened and filed a complaint with parallel allegations," the court opinion states.
New Mexico claimed that Texas’ lawsuit would only benefit Texans and would deplete the New Mexico water supplies and filed a motion to dismiss.
The court denied New Mexico’s motion to dismiss under the recommendation of the Special Master and agreed to hear two exceptions filed by the United States and Texas.
The Rio Grande Compact enacted in the 1930s “requires Colorado to deliver a specified amount of water annually to New Mexico at the state line and directs New Mexico to deliver a specified amount of water to the Elephant Butte Reservoir. The Reservoir was completed in 1916 as part of the Federal Government’s Rio Grande Project and plays a vital role in fulfilling the United States’ obligations to supply water under a 1906 treaty with Mexico as well as under several agreements with downstream water districts in New Mexico and Texas,” the opinion clarifies.
“The Constitution endows this court with original jurisdiction over disputes between the states,” Gorsuch stated in the court opinion. "The Compact is inextricably intertwined with the Rio Grande Project and the Downstream Contracts.”
The court opinion noted that New Mexico conceded to this point in oral arguments and stated that “a failure by New Mexico to meet its Compact obligations could directly impair the federal government’s ability to perform its obligations under the treaty.”
The case has been remanded to the Special Master for further proceedings.
Supreme Court of the United States slip opinion number 141