New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas announced that after a nearly decade-long battle over the waters on the Rio Grande, the case has reached an important legal milestone.
After nine years of litigation, Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado have reached an agreement that may resolve the legal dispute between the states over how water from the Rio Grande is divided between southern New Mexico and West Texas. Texas filed the lawsuit in 2013 arising from disagreements over how much water Texas and New Mexico are each entitled to under the 1938 Rio Grande Compact.
The dispute centers on a stretch of the Rio Grande River between Elephant Butte Dam and Hudspeth County, Texas. The 1938 Compact also provides for water deliveries to be made to Mexico under an international treaty.