ELR Citation: 54 ELR 20091
No(s). 141 (U.S. Jun 21, 2024)

The U.S. Supreme Court, 5-4, denied two states' motion to enter into a consent decree in a lawsuit concerning a 1938 interstate agreement that apportions the waters of the Rio Grande River among Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas. Texas initially sued Colorado and New Mexico, arguing excessive groundwater pumping in New Mexico was depleting supplies of Rio Grande water bound for Texas. The U.S. government moved to intervene, and the Court allowed it because it found the government had its own distinct interests in holding New Mexico to its obligations under the agreement, which was "inextricably intertwined" with the government's operation of the irrigation system in southern New Mexico. Texas and New Mexico subsequently sought approval of a proposed consent decree that would resolve the suit and codify a methodology for allocating each state's share of the river's waters. A special master recommended that the Court approve the consent decree. The U.S. government objected and filed an exception, arguing the decree would dispose of its claims that New Mexico's groundwater pumping was violating the agreement. The Court held that since the proposed decree would dispose of the government's valid claims without its consent, the motion to enter the decree was denied. It sustained the government's exception. Jackson, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Roberts, C.J., and Sotomayor, Kagan, and Kavanaugh, JJ., joined. Gorsuch, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Thomas, Alito, and Barrett, JJ., joined.