A long-running battle between Texas and New Mexico over the division of water in the Rio Grande might be nearing its end.
However, opponents, including the U.S. government, do not support the proposed resolution that the Supreme Court is set to consider.
The case sprouted in the early 2000s when consecutive drought years spurred legal battles over water use from the river.
A 1938 water compact had established the division of the water in the Rio Grande between Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas, with the Bureau of Reclamation overseeing delivery and two major water districts taking increasing ownership.
The bureau and the water districts — El Paso County Water Improvement District No.1 in El Paso, Texas, and Elephant Butte Irrigation District in Las Cruces, New Mexico — formed a renewed operating agreement in 2008 that shifted the allocation of water.
New Mexico state officials were not fond of the 2008 agreement as they believed it was causing Texas to receive more than its fair share of water, according to court filings.
New Mexico sued the Bureau of Reclamation in 2011. Two years later, in January 2013, Texas filed its own motion with the Supreme Court, which has jurisdiction over disputes between states.
Texas argued that water measurements for its allocation of water were taken nearly 100 miles from the state borders, allowing New Mexico farmers to illegally siphon off some of Texas’ share of the river, reducing the water Texas received.
The Rio Grande is crucial to Texas water supplies as it provides about half of the drinking water for El Paso.
The two states have reached a settlement in the case, which the Supreme Court must approve. The proposed resolution was jointly filed under seal in November and made public this month.
The deal would allocate specific amounts of water to Southern New Mexico and Texas based on a historic baseline of 57% of the water below New Mexico’s Caballo Reservoir staying in New Mexico and 43% going to Texas.
Some accounting adjustments will generally benefit New Mexico, according to The Wall Street Journal. At the same time, Texas obtained the guarantee that a gauge in El Paso would be used to measure its allocated amount of water.
The agreement will not affect allocations to Mexico, which shares water from the Rio Grande.
The proposed resolution empowers the Rio Grande Compact Commission, made up of one representative each from Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas, to oversee and enforce the agreed-upon flows.
“Both states’ claims involve allegations that the other state took steps or failed to act to avoid interference with delivery or receipt of the equitable apportionment,” a memo in support of the proposed agreement reads. “The Consent Decree resolves these claims by specifying methods and practices which will ensure delivery of each state’s apportionment.”
The federal government and two major irrigation districts, which will lose the control of water allocations they previously enjoyed since the 1938 compact, stand opposed to the agreement.
The federal government has not publicly said why it opposes the deal.
The dispute has played out amid a record drought in an increasingly dry West that has stressed the river. Last year, the Rio Grande ran dry in Texas’ Big Bend National Park and Albuquerque for the first time in decades.
Bobby Skov, the commissioner of the Rio Grande Compact for Texas, declined to comment for this story.
