Supreme Court Blocks Rio Grande Water Allocation Decree in 5-4 Ruling

Jun 22, 2024, 05:31 PM

The US Supreme Court has issued a 5-4 ruling regarding the allocation of the Rio Grande's waters among Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado. The ruling held that a proposed consent decree, which aimed to resolve the water dispute and codify a methodology for determining each state's water allocation, could not be approved as it would dispose of federal claims without the government's consent. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, writing for the majority, stated that Texas and New Mexico had agreed to the proposed decree, but the United States opposed it, arguing that it would undermine federal claims regarding New Mexican groundwater pumping. In dissent, Justice Neil Gorsuch warned that the federal government's aggressive stance could devastate New Mexico's economy. Attorney General Ken Paxton responded to the decision, criticizing the Biden Administration for preventing the resolution of the water dispute between the states.