What the Texas-New Mexico dispute over the Pecos River can tell us about the Rio Grande fight
An 8-year-old Supreme Court lawsuit about a dispute over groundwater pumping on the Rio Grande between Texas and New Mexico has been in trial virtually — with the first part concluding in mid-November and the second slated for spring.
Texas alleges in the lawsuit that New Mexico farmers’ pumping of groundwater has reduced Texas’ water supplies by millions of gallons each year. Texas is asking for damages from New Mexico for water used over decades. If the court decides in Texas’ favor, that could mean paying more than a billion dollars in damages, on top of the $15 million it spent on legal fees.
This isn’t the first water dispute between the states, however, and decisions by the United States Supreme Court more than three decades ago could shed light on the current battle’s outcome.
Animosity between New Mexico and Texas over water stretches back before 1974, over a fight in the U.S. Supreme Court about the 1948 Pecos River Compact. Texas sued, alleging that upstream New Mexico chronically shorted Texas at the state line and used too much water.
Read more: https://sourcenm.com/2021/12/30/what-the-texas-new-mexico-dispute-over-the-pecos-river-can-tell-us-about-the-rio-grande-fight/
