US Supreme Court settles long-running water dispute over dwindling Rio Grande
The deal requires New Mexico to cut groundwater use by 18,200 acre-feet a year and retire more than 14 square miles of farmland.
- The U.S. Supreme Court approved a settlement package Tuesday designed to resolve a long-running water dispute, accepting a special master's recommendation to move forward with agreements first proposed last year by New Mexico, Texas and Colorado.
- Researchers warned that unsustainable Rio Grande use threatens millions across the binational basin, while farmers in southern New Mexico increasingly relied on groundwater pumping as hotter, drier conditions reduced river flows over recent decades, prompting Texas to sue in 2013.
- Stretches of the Rio Grande as far north as Albuquerque are expected to go dry this year for the third time in five years; New Mexico must reduce annual groundwater depletions by 18,200 acre-feet, or about 5.9 billion gallons, with officials planning to retire more than 14 square miles of farmland.
- The settlement restores order to water sharing between two vast irrigation districts in southern New Mexico and western Texas through a detailed accounting system using credits and debits to navigate drought and wet periods, though New Mexico faces additional obligations if deliveries are deferred too long.
- While the Colorado River dominates headlines, experts say Rio Grande challenges are equally dire; Interstate Stream Commission Director Hannah Riseley-White told water experts in March that water problems require collaborative solutions, even as implementation details and costs remain unresolved.
29 Articles
29 Articles
The U.S. Supreme Court approved a package of agreements designed to stop the pumping of subterrestrial waters along the r or Bravo.
LA Daily News
Supreme Court settles long-running water dispute over dwindling Rio Grande
The U.S. Supreme Court has adopted a settlement designed to end a long-running feud over management of one of North America’s longest rivers.
Associated Press News
US Supreme Court settles long-running water dispute over dwindling Rio Grande
The U.S. Supreme Court has adopted a settlement designed to end a long-running feud over management of one of North America’s longest rivers.
The U.S. Supreme Court approved a landmark agreement to halt underground pumping in the Rio Grande and ensure water supply. Regeneración, […] The entry Rio Grande: U.S. Supreme Court Limits Water Pumping was first published on RegeneraciónMX.
The U.S. Supreme Court approved a package of agreements designed to curb groundwater pumping along the Bravo River and ensure that enough water arrives from New Mexico to Texas, ending a long-standing dispute over the management of this river, one of the longest in North America.
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