ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — A lawsuit pitting Texas against New Mexico and Colorado over access to water from the Rio Grande must be sent back to an arbitrator, also known as a special master, to resolve the dispute, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday.
Justice Neil Gorsuch noted the federal government has an interest in ensuring water commitments are kept involving one of North America’s longest rivers, citing an international agreement with Mexico and the decades-old Rio Grande Compact. The federal government has said it may pursue claims for compact violations involving the dispute.
“A breach of the compact could jeopardize the federal government’s ability to satisfy its treaty obligations to Mexico,” Gorsuch wrote.
All sides say the stakes are high given uncertainty about the future sustainability of water supplies throughout the Rio Grande Valley. In dry years when there’s not enough water in the river, chile and onion farmers and pecan growers in southern New Mexico are forced to rely on wells to keep their crops and trees alive.
— Read on www.lamonitor.com/content/high-court-feds-have-role-texas-new-mexico-water-fight
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