Shes covered climate, local government and community at the Scottsbluff Star-Herald in Nebraska and the Santa Fe New Mexican. The special master conducts the proceedings, but he cant actually decide anything. 141 Original Texas v. New Mexico and Colorado, is an extension ofdecades-long fightsover rivers between Texas and New Mexico. is trying to dump highly radioactive nuclear waste in west Texas oil fields.I just signed a law to stop it.Texas will not become America's nuclear waste dumping ground.https://t.co/tdZ2ALOaYT via @business. Mexico is pledging that they're going to do a lot more to stop the flow of the narcotic fentanyl flowing across the border. The project, along with Holtecs, was also opposed by some oil and gas operators in the area. 1 (EPCWID), the Elephant Butte Irrigation District (EBID), the city of El Paso and the city of Las Cruces are among the friends of the court amici curiae who can file briefs but are not parties to the case. "Im very disappointed that the U.S. is exerting federal overreach and standing in the way of the States historic water agreement, Balderas said. Theyre not real eager to set up these arrangements where somebody like the Pecos River master is going to make a decision, and the only way that can get reviewed is if the Supreme Court does it. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our web site. The headwaters of the Pecos start in the Sangre de Cristo mountains in north-central New Mexico, flowing across West Texas, before emptying into the Rio Grande near the Amistad Reservoir, 400 miles southeast of El Paso. Special Master Melloy is a senior appellate judge for the 8th U.S. The Environmental Protection Division in the Texas Attorney Generals Office billed the state more than $247,000 since fiscal year 2012. The second part of the trial was initially slated to begin March 13. It was adisagreement over evaporation lossesin a one-time event in 2014 and 2015 that wont have much impact beyond the Pecos Basin. 2023 Copyright El Paso Matters. 141 Original Texas v. New Mexico and Colorado, is an extension ofdecades-long fightsover rivers between Texas and New Mexico. Instead of a sheriffs office allowing the jails to release the men, the lawsuit alleges, they were transported to federal immigration facilities and then sent to Mexico. In response, Texas filed a lawsuit against New Mexico in the U.S. Supreme Court in 2014, alleging New Mexico takes more than its fair share of the water through diversion and groundwater pumping. In a 2011 federal lawsuit, New Mexico alleged the federal government So what's the significance then of the buoys being on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande? The Ro Grande at Caballo Lake State Park in New Mexico. So right now, there's roughly 1,000 feet of the buoys in the water. 2023 www.lcsun-news.com. Two divisions of the Texas Office of the Attorney General have also billed a total of $432,625 for their time, travel and overhead expenses. by Danielle Prokop, El Paso Matters February 1, 2022, This article first appeared on El Paso Matters and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.. Come to Source NM for fresh reporting, insightful opinion and analysis from around the state. New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas lauded the proposed settlement and criticized the position of the United States in a statement Tuesday. It also set up a new formula to determine how much water would make its way downstream to Texas, which would be evaluated at a later time. They included: state laws governing water are inapplicable to the case; the exact amounts of river water each state should get; how much has groundwater development impacted the Rio Grande deliveries in the past or present; and how much water New Mexico can and cannot capture downstream of Elephant Butte Dam. Most have either had their cases dismissed or entered guilty pleas in exchange for time served. Jerri Mares, New Mexico attorney generals office spokesperson, said in a statement the office wants to ensure New Mexico farmers and small businesses get a fair water deal.. That phase of the trial ended in November. I think a key point of all that, which is hard to grasp, is also that because theyre building the system as they go, the problems flare up in different ways, said David Donatti, an attorney for the Texas ACLU. All rights reserved. In a 2011 federal lawsuit, New Mexico alleged the federal government shorted the state its share of Rio Grande water, and gave too much to Texas. The extensive analyses concluded that this facilitys commercial interim storage and transport operations satisfy all environmental, health, and safety requirements without negative impact to nearby residents or existing industries., More: Nuclear waste facility near Carlsbad sees COVID-19 surge as infections rise in New Mexico. Catch up on the big Supreme Court water case involving Texas The Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Texas for placing the buoys in the Rio Grande. Tensions boiled over in 1974, when Texas sued New Mexico in the Supreme Court over groundwater pumping and other activities that Texas argued depleted flows of the Pecos River. But not everyone is celebrating. Texas sued, alleging that upstream New Mexico chronically shorted Officials in both Kinney and Val Verde counties, which have partnered with Abbotts operation, are named in the lawsuit. Reed Benson, a law professor at the University of New Mexico with decades of experience in water management, said the Supreme Court uses special masters to conduct extensive research, establish a record and make recommendations to the court in these water management cases. Visitors arrive at the Marina del Sur on Elephant Butte Reservoir on May 22. And the water that they're in is just about shin-deep. It is very difficult to predict when that report might be issued, he said. Published: Aug. 22, 2023 at 8:31 AM PDT | Updated: moments ago. The stakes are really high for these disputes, Benson said. The Supreme Court denied the petition, holding that the PUC's exclusive original jurisdiction did not extend to the issues underlying this tort claim. ", "We have been actively participating in all of these negotiations for 10 months," said U.S. Department of Justice attorney Lee Leininger. Then there was a major technical undertaking to determine how to quantify New Mexicos obligation and determine the extent the state fell short, Benson said. Colorado is named as a defendant only because it is a signatory on the Rio Grande Compact. The case officially called No. During a trip Monday to Eagle Pass, Abbott said the barrier was moved out of an abundance of caution following what he described as allegations that they had drifted to Mexicos side of the river. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters). Danielle Prokop is a climate change and environment reporter with El Paso Matters. Settlement talks in Supreme Court Rio Grande water case push By: Danielle Prokop - August 1, 2023 4:10 am The cracked riverbed lays Tell us about those. The second half of the trial, with in-person testimony from experts on the technical aspects of the case, will take place in the spring, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Melloy said he would determine a date for the virtual portion of the trial at a hearing this week on Thursday, Sept. 2. This is an edited version of a story that originally appeared in El Paso Matters. Toxic water project sparks controversy with Navajo neighbors, Maya Srikrishnan, Center For Public Integrity. This story was originally published by El Paso Matters. Plaintiffs, a larger number of homeowners near the Junemann Bayou and Las Marque, sued TNM, their electric utility, for damages due to flooding during Hurricane Harvey, alleging that TNM was negligent in not requiring its contractor to secure wooden mats to the ground during a construction project. Two divisions of the Texas Office of the Attorney General have also billed a total of $432,625 for their time, travel and overhead expenses. I do think we could separate out the issues in a way that we could, over the next two or three months, get a number of weeks of testimony concluded this fall and leave the more complex testimony for the spring, Melloy said. Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-618-7631, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter. Danielle Prokop is a climate change and environment reporter with El Paso Matters. The court will also have to determine if the states can legally settle the case over the objections of the United States. Hearings begin today over the legality of a string of buoys in the Rio Grande. The El Paso County Water Improvement District No. And a majority of immigrants are asylum seekers and refugees. The Texas attorney generals office did not respond to a request for comment. Were your resource. So we've gone from, build that wall, to, float that ball. Associated Press writer Valerie Gonzalez in McAllen, Texas, contributed to this report. The Supreme Court case originates from a deal hammered out between two irrigation districts and the federal government during the drought of the early 2000s. Is it going to be states like Texas, or is it going to be the federal government? The Supreme Court denied a petition for writ of mandamus sought by Texas-New Mexico Power Co. (TNM) in this negligence action, holding that Plaintiffs' claim was not one within the Public Utility Commission's (PUC) exclusive original jurisdiction because it was not about TNM's operations and services as a utility. Strongest climate bill ever may increase oil and gas, Maya Srikrishnan, Center For Public Integrity. The U.S. Supreme Court appointed Melloy to oversee and determine facts as a trial judge. All rights reserved. Whoops! Here's what happened. He decided the trial will be pushed back but only by a few weeks. State proposes 7% teacher salary raise next year as part of $3.85 billion budget ask, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Settlement talks push back Supreme Court Rio Grande water Source New Mexico is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Were here to serve you. Circuit Court based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Rio Grande flows from Caballo Dam for irrigation and water allotment. The trial will continue sometime in the spring for the technical portion of testimony, which will include hearing from different experts regarding hydrological models, rather than less-complex testimony from state and local officials. The contract originally included a reimbursement to the firm of up to $500,000 but has been amended since to increase the fees and extend the contract. What you need to know about the latest in the Texas v. What the Texas-New Mexico dispute over the Pecos River can tell us about the Rio Grande fight. This isnt the first water dispute between the states, however, and decisions by the United States Supreme Court more than three decades ago could shed light on the current battles outcome. In the meantime, Abbottssprawling border missionknown as Operation Lone Star continues to face numerous legal challenges, including a new one filed Monday by four migrant men arrested by Texas troopers after crossing the border.

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