Texas v. New Mexico and Colorado
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 21, 2024 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Decided
- June 21, 2024
- Term
- October Term 2023
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority author
- Justice Jackson
- Issue area
- Interstate Relations
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Unspecifiable
Opinion excerpt
(Slip Opinion) OCTOBER TERM, 2023 1 Syllabus NOTE: Where it is feasible, a syllabus (headnote) will be released, as is being done in connection with this case, at the time the opinion is issued. The syllabus constitutes no part of the opinion of the Court but has been prepared by the Reporter of Decisions for the convenience of the reader. See United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co., 200 U. S. 321 , 337. SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES Syllabus TEXAS, PLAINTIFF v. NEW MEXICO AND COLORADO ON EXCEPTION TO THIRD INTERIM REPORT OF THE SPECIAL MASTER No. 141, Orig. Argued March 20, 2024—Decided June 21, 2024 Approved by Congress in 1938, the Rio Grande Compact is an interstate agreement that apportions the waters of the Rio Grande River among Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas. The Compact relies on the Federal Bureau of Reclamation’s operation of an irrigation system called the Rio Grande Project. Under the Compact, New Mexico must deliver a certain amount of water to the Elephant Butte Reservoir, located in southern New Mexico. Then, in accordance with agreements called the “Downstream Contracts,” Reclamation releases specified amounts of water from the Reservoir for delivery to two water districts in New Mexico and Texas. In 2013, Texas filed suit in this Court against the Compact’s other two signatory States, alleging that excessive groundwater pumping in New Mexico was…
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