AG King: High Court Should Reject TX Request to Sue NM

Brief to U.S. Supreme Court Outlines Reasons for Denial Wednesday, March 13, 2013 (SANTA FE)---Attorney General Gary King, in a brief filed this week opposing Texas motion for Leave to File a Complaint against New Mexico, the AG says that Texas has no grounds to bring suit in the U.S. Supreme Court and that the issues it raises are currently being litigated in ongoing federal and state court cases. The Attorney General maintains that Texas is making allegations involving two pending water cases in which Texas is not a party; its claims are not based on any specific terms of the Rio Grande Compact; Texas complaints are not of the nature of a dispute between sovereign states; and there are alternative legal forums for resolution of the issues raised in Texas Complaint. We believe New Mexico is living up to the terms of Rio Grande Compact, not violating it, says AG King. Texas is attempting to change the RGC in its favor and trying to get the Supreme Court to allow it. The Attorney Generals brief states: Recognizing that there is no violation of the express terms of the Compact, Texas alleges instead that New Mexico has violated the purpose and intent of the Compact by allowing and authorizing the interception and use of Rio Grande Project (Project) water below Elephant Butte Reservoir and before arriving at the Texas-New Mexico state line. The Project is a federal reclamation project owned and operated by the United States. The United States has allocated all of the Project water pursuant to Reclamation law. The water is allocated by reclamation contracts to Project beneficiaries for uses in Texas and New Mexico. The State of Texas does not have a contract for water from the Project. The Compact does not express a purpose and intent to protect a certain amount of Project water for delivery to the Texas-New Mexico state line, nor any provision prohibiting New Mexico from allowing its water users to make additional depletions between Elephant Butte and the Texas-New Mexico state line. Texas Motion for Leave should be denied.

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