Last Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its final approval on a settlement meant to resolve longstanding disagreements over the distribution of Rio Grande waters between Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado.
The lawsuit was first brought to the court by Governor Greg Abbott when he was serving as Attorney General in 2013, alleging that New Mexico and Colorado were unfairly siphoning water from the Rio Grande before it reached Texas.
Under the 1938 Rio Grande Compact, New Mexico and Colorado agreed to delivery obligations ensuring that water from the Rio Grande was delivered downstream to Texas.
The new settlement works to ensure that those obligations are now met. This includes requiring New Mexico to more actively regulate groundwater pumping, which generates 5.9 billion gallons of water annually. The agreement also creates a new water management plan for the region.
The case’s special master, Judge D. Brooks Smith of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, submitted his report to the court earlier this year and recommended that the Justices approve a final decree agreed to by the Compacting States that makes “critical progress toward ensuring proper distribution of the Rio Grande’s resources.”
Attorney General Ken Paxton released a statement stating that the approval of this agreement “is a historic win for the people of Texas,” and added that his “office had worked diligently for years to secure the settlement,” and that he was “grateful that the Supreme Court approved it.” Many see this settlement as an opportunity to restore order to an elaborate system of storing and sharing water between the expansive irrigation districts of southern New Mexico and west Texas.
“Director of the Interstate Stream Commission, Hanna Riseley-White, says that her office is “very excited to be redirecting resources from costly and lengthy litigation to solutions on the ground.”
Some of these solutions include long-term fallowing programs, more efficient irrigation infrastructure development to access new sources of water, such as trapping brackish supplies or imported water, as well as improving stormwater management so more runoff can be utilized.