New Mexico, Texas and Colorado have negotiated a proposed settlement that they say would end a years-long battle over management of one of the longest rivers in North America, but the federal government and two irrigation districts that depend on the Rio Grande are objecting.
New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas on Tuesday announced that the states had brokered a deal following months of negotiations. While the terms remain confidential, his office called it “a comprehensive resolution of all the claims in the case.”
“Extreme drought and erratic climate events necessitate that states must work together to protect the Rio Grande, which is the lifeblood of our New Mexico farmers and communities,” Balderas said in a statement. “And I’m very disappointed that the US is exerting federal overreach and standing in the way of the states’ historic water agreement.”
Photo: AP
Attorneys with the US Department of Justice and irrigation districts that serve farmers downstream of Elephant Butte reservoir said that the proposal would not be a workable solution.
The river is managed through a system of federal dams and canals under provisions of a water-sharing agreement that also involves Mexico.
The case has been pending before the US Supreme Court for nearly a decade. Texas has said that groundwater pumping in southern New Mexico has reduced river flows, limiting how much water makes it across the border. New Mexico says that it has been shorted on its share of the river.
New Mexico and the other states plan in the coming weeks to submit their motion to move the proposed settlement forward, opening the door for federal officials and the irrigation districts to respond.
Another hearing has been scheduled for January.
The battle over the Rio Grande has become a multimillion-dollar case in a region where water supplies are dwindling due to increased demand along with drought and warmer temperatures brought on by climate change.
So far, New Mexico has spent about US$21 million on lawyers and scientists over the past nine years.
Last fall, the special master overseeing the case presided over the first phase of trial, which included testimony from farmers, hydrologists, irrigation managers and others. More technical testimony was expected to be part of the next phase, which has now been put off.
Earlier this year, some of the river’s stretches in New Mexico marked record-low flows, resulting in some farmers voluntarily fallowing fields to help the state meet downstream water-sharing obligations.
In the Elephant Butte Irrigation District, officials recently told farmers that they can likely expect another late start to the irrigation season next year and that allotments would be low again, as the system depends less on summer rains and more on spring runoff from snowmelt in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico.
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