A nice summary of the Texas v. New Mexico water lawsuit

Laura Paskus, who writes for the Utton Center at the UNM law school, has written a nice summary (pdf) of the issues at stake in the lawsuit filed last month against New Mexico by Texas over Rio Grande water:

Texas is alleging that New Mexico has violated its obligations under the Rio Grande Compact by repeatedly “intercepting” water intended for use in Texas. New Mexico has allegedly done this in two ways: By allowing diversions of surface water and by allowing groundwater pumping downstream of Elephant Butte Dam. Texas alleges that by increasing the amount of groundwater pumping, New Mexico is depleting the amount of surface water available to Rio Grande Project users in Texas.

The next step in the case is for the state of New Mexico to file a response, due next week. If the Supreme Court agrees to let the suit proceed, lawyers and hydrologists for both states will be assembling their respective analyses of how much water has been pumped from the ground and consumed, potentially all the way back to 1938.

As I’ve written previously, the downside risk to New Mexico here is enormous – potentially a billion-plus dollar problem. I recommend reading Laura’s piece for a helpful primer on the details.