New Mexico counterclaim filed in Rio Grande water suit
WASHINGTON – New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas is pushing back against Texas in a long-standing Rio Grande water fight, and this week he filed a counterclaim in U.S. Supreme Court accusing Texas of mismanaging water and hurting New Mexico’s farmers.
Texas sued New Mexico in 2014, claiming that New Mexico farmers and pecan growers illegally pump groundwater from below Elephant Butte Dam that would otherwise flow to El Paso and West Texas. New Mexico claims that its water obligations to Texas are measured at the dam. The complex dispute is being overseen by a so-called special master appointed by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously in March that the federal government can intervene in the case, complicating New Mexico’s position. Balderas’ filing late Tuesday aims to put Texas and the federal government on the legal defensive.
“I’m asking the United States and Texas to address my counterclaims and show me the (water) accounting and the hydrology science, because I believe Texas has suffered no harm,” Balderas told the Journal on Wednesday, adding that he assembled a team of lawyers and hydrology experts to make his 30-page case. “I believe New Mexico has worked hard to be very fair and Texas’ claims are exaggerated and quite greedy.”
Read more: https://www.abqjournal.com/1175900/nm-counterclaim-filed-in-water-suit.html
Cross-posted in the Texas Group.
