Nov. 16 – With a new administration taking over the White House in January, New Mexico’s congressional delegation calls on the Biden administration to resolve the long-running lawsuit over Rio Grande water rights by the end of the year.
In a letter to Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Attorney General Merrick Garland, the delegation, all Democrats, asks the DOI and DOJ to quickly resolve the Texas v. New Mexico and Colorado lawsuit in cooperation with the parties.
The U.S. Supreme Court last summer rejected a proposed settlement between Texas, New Mexico and Colorado over the allocation of the waters of the Rio Grande. Texas originally sued New Mexico in 2013, alleging that farmers pumping groundwater in southern New Mexico were diverting water allocated to Texas through the 1938 Rio Grande Compact. But the Supreme Court majority ruled that the federal government, which opposed the settlement was, agreed to every deal.
The states and the federal government must mediate in Washington DC by December 16 to resolve their disputes or risk having to appear in federal court.
Any settlement could affect how groundwater is managed in the Rio Grande Basin in New Mexico and West Texas, both for agriculture and in cities that pump water from aquifers, such as Albuquerque and Las Cruces.
The letter to Haaland and Garland was signed by U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján and U.S. Representatives Gabe Vasquez, Melanie Stansbury and Teresa Leger Fernández.
“Over the past year, nearly every part of the state has experienced a period of drought. That means more than 2.1 million New Mexicans and nearly 44,000 businesses have had inconsistent or extremely limited access to water over the past year,” the paper said. November. 14 letter mentioned.
“In times of increasing drought and precipitation that is not consistent with historical patterns, it is imperative that our communities, municipalities, farmers, ranchers and businesses have as much clarity as possible about their future water supply. the Supreme Court’s decision in Texas v. New Mexico and Colorado jeopardizes the ability of water users to prepare for more frequent and extreme droughts in the Rio Grande Basin.
The delegation’s letter also noted that New Mexico has the lowest water-to-land ratio of all fifty states. “As of November 7, 2024, a majority of the state of New Mexico has been experiencing some degree of abnormal drought or drought,” the letter said.
“Communities throughout the watershed continually struggle with the unpredictability of water supplies due to long-term drought. An early resolution will allow all parties to move forward and pursue water use practices that best serve their people.”
