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Without settlement, Rio Grande Supreme Court case returns to trial
The Texas and New Mexico fight over Rio Grande water is headed to court in Iowa early next year unless a settlement can be reached within weeks — a shrinking prospect attorneys said as they prepare for trial. “Settlement was not successful,” Lee Leininger, an attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, said of the […]
Settlement deadline looms in Rio Grande Supreme Court case
An agreement to resolve the pending U.S.Supreme Court dispute over Rio Grande water is approaching its “drop-dead” date of Sept. 23, even as parties described “choppy waters” on the settlement front. A settlement would resolve the nearly decade-old lawsuit where Texas alleged New Mexico’s pumping of groundwater below Elephant Butte shorts Texas’ share of Rio […]
EPA announces toxic ‘forever chemicals’ are far more dangerous than previously thought
The Environmental Protection Agency announced this week it takes far less exposure to two widespread toxic chemicals to endanger people’s health. This advisory could impact cleanup of plumes of the chemicals already found in New Mexico water sources. The chemicals are two well-known PFAs — shorthand for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. PFAs don’t break down […]
States spend big money in the Texas v. New Mexico Supreme Court fight
The state governments of Texas and New Mexico have spent more than $30 million combined on legal fees in the fight over Rio Grande water, which is now before the United States Supreme Court. Invoices and contracts from both attorneys general offices show the states think that water is worth fighting over as Texas has doled […]
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 […]
Catch up on the big Supreme Court water case involving Texas and New Mexico
This is an edited version of a story that originally appeared in El Paso Matters. To read the original go here. The Rio Grande supplies water to millions of people and wildlife along its shores in Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and Mexico. Nearly 80% of its water is used in agriculture, but it’s also a […]