The Supreme Court should approve a settlement deal in the more than decadelong legal battle over the Rio Grande, a special master recommended in a new report.
Judge D. Brooks Smith of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, who is acting as special master in Texas v. New Mexico and Colorado, on Friday issued a report endorsing a settlement agreement between the states and federal government. His report, which also advocated for dismissing the lawsuit, was published Monday.
“Much like the river whose water the parties have quarreled over for decades, this original action has proceeded in a meandering fashion,” Smith wrote.
The states unveiled their settlement last fall, detailing an agreement in which New Mexico would forfeit 5.9 billion gallons of groundwater annually to ensure Texas receives its full share of Rio Grande water. The three-part deal also includes the creation of a new water management plan.
